Youth movement? Players to watch in the Patriots-Panthers preseason opener

Youth movement? Players to watch in the Patriots-Panthers preseason opener originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

FOXBORO – Ahead of Thursday night’s preseason opener, let’s look at some of the most intriguing Patriots players to keep an eye on against the Panthers at Gillette Stadium.

Rookie QBs

The Patriots probably know what they have in their two veterans, Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe, which makes it an obvious choice to keep an eye on the rookies. But there are two questions in particular that interest me most when it comes to expectations for Drake Maye and Joe Milton.

With Maye, how long will he play?

Head coach Jerod Mayo will have to pay close attention to how Maye is being protected and determine how well the first-round rookie will perform. Preventing “bags” in camp practices has been a problemespecially for the backup forwards on the roster and therefore it might not be a good idea to stick with the future face of the franchise for an extended period of time if they can’t hold up.

For Milton, the question is this: will he have the opportunity to display his impressive physical gifts?

He hasn’t had many chances to publicize that in training lately. His arm strength is apparent, as is his athleticism when he breaks the pocket to run. He split third-team reps with Zappe for much of training camp, but if he gets more playing time Thursday, he should be able to come up with a play or two. And maybe even a backflip.

Ja’Lynn Polk, wide receiver

The rookie second round pick sometimes looked like a seasoned vet at camp. He has been perhaps the team’s most consistent receiver in camp in terms of availability and performance. He makes the plays he’s supposed to make, and he’s also shown some top-notch receiving skills with a couple catches downfield, a contested 50-50 catch in the end zone and a diving catch on third down in recent camp drills.

He might not play much if the starters aren’t on the field for more than a few series. But he earned that level of treatment given how he looked in practice.

The fourth-round rookie has been more of an early game generator. At the beginning of the camp, he seemed to do one or two pieces in each training session that would qualify as a revelation. Bounce the balls across the field. Diving captures. Even some of the incompleteness sent to him are impressive; he stepped up and somersaulted out of bounds while recovering a pass from Jacoby Brissett on Tuesday to get the crowd going… but he only put one foot in bounds.

There may not be another position player on the Patriots’ roster Thursday who has as much incredible play potential.

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Offensive attacks

Here’s another obvious one. But unlike quarterbacks, it’s not because of the levels of enthusiasm they can generate. This is about how many problems this position group can avoid.

Veteran Chukwuma Okorafor appears unlikely to play after missing the last three training sessions, meaning there could be plenty of work available for Vederian Lowe, Calvin Anderson and Caedan Wallace. Lowe has been the most consistent of the group, with Anderson (who missed some time due to a lower-body ailment) not far behind. Wallace has had his share of breakout moments in training camp, though he may be the most promising tackle to play on the second-unit offense.

Other tackles who have blocked quarterback Drake Maye recently include undrafted rookie Zuri Henry and Newly signed free agent (August 2) Kellen Diesch.

The rookie tight end we did our “Stock” column on Tuesday after getting a stunning contested touchdown from Maye while covered by Kyle Dugger. He missed the start of training camp due to an undisclosed illness, but is an impressive athlete with the positional versatility to occasionally line up in the backfield and give the Patriots a new formation look.

Assuming the veteran tight end of Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper will have most of the night off, it will be fascinating to see how Bell performs.

Terrell Jennings, running back

Of all the unknown skill players who could end up seeing a lot of playing time on Thursday, Jennings is perhaps the most interesting.

Undrafted by Florida A&M, he was a broken machine in college. He racked up 4.6 yards after contact per attempt (second in the draft class) and 83.4 percent of his rushing yards came after contact (third). He’s been running a lot in Patriots practice, and the assumption here is that he’ll take that style of offense to another level with the opportunity to try to earn a job in his preseason debut.

The Patriots know they have a talented young corner to play off for years to come. It hasn’t necessarily been a dominant pitch for him though, with Tyquan Thornton occasionally getting the better of him over the summer.

How does Gonzalez look in a game situation? Is he experimenting with new techniques? Is he testing things out to see what he can and can’t do in the regular season? Once the Panthers have the ball, it will be worth watching to see if Gonzalez steps things up.

Additionally, whoever is playing alongside Gonzalez early in this game could be worth noting. With Marcus Jones recently absent – considered one of the team’s top three corners – we’ve seen Jonathan Jones, Marco Wilson and Alex Austin work in the same group with Gonzalez. Wilson has been solid in camp after joining the team late last season via waiver claim.

Security newcomers

Two names in particular here have been impressive lately: Dell Pettus and AJ Thomas.

Pettus is a highly experienced undrafted rookie, having started 61 consecutive games for Troy. He showed physicality in practice, got reps with the superior defense, broke up a pass to Hunter Henry deep downfield and recorded a sack as a blitzer earlier this week. If an undrafted rookie ends up making the roster, the best bet at this point might be Pettus.

Thomas, meanwhile, was signed on August 2 after spending the spring with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL. He picked off a deflected attempt by Drake Maye on Monday, and on Tuesday he helped set up an interception by deflecting a target from Maye to Baker. He also threw the hardest hit of camp to this point during a ground tackling period, drilling receiver JaQuae Jackson on a pass thrown over the middle by Milton.

Nicknamed “Boi”, Ximines is not afraid to exert his influence on the training pitch. A veteran of five seasons with the Giants, Ximines is fighting for a spot on the roster, showing some physicality in both running and passing.

Depending on How the Matthew Judon Situation Unfolds, he could be in line for some significant outfield work as part of a rotation with Keion White and Anfernee Jennings. Can he solidify a spot on the roster with some big plays in the preseason? He’ll get a chance on Thursday.

Russell represents one of the most entertaining stories on Patriots camp.

The 6-foot-2, 239-pounder is just 20 years old. He is a rugby player originally from Australia, having played for the Currumbin Eagles, the Tweed Seagulls under-21 team and the Brisbane Broncos development team. Now that he has been selected for the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, he is trying to establish himself as a defensive back in the NFL.

He recorded a sack on a midfield maneuver on Monday and certainly doesn’t look like a mere 20-year-old based on his frame.