Patriots offense

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Tom Brady, 4 other Patriots offensive starters not expected to play against the Jaguars



The New England Patriots won?t care if they win or lose Thursday night?s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars because the team is only concerned with the development of players on the roster.
Well, the Patriots back-ups will have plenty of time to show what they?ve learned this summer according to the Herald?s Jeff Howe, who reports that five offensive starters will not suit up against the Jaguars.

Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Brandin Cooks highlight a list of veteran starters who aren?t expected to play tomorrow, per sources.? Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2017

Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Brandin Cooks are three of the most important players in the Patriots offense, while his article adds Julian Edelman to the list of absentees. Howe previously reported that running back Mike Gillislee will not play due to his hamstring injury.



Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett will see more time with Brady sidelined and they both need the reps. Garoppolo had an ugly set of practices until he started to face the Jaguars secondary, while Brissett is ?a work in progress? according to head coach Bill Belichick. They both need strong preseason performances.

Look for Dwayne Allen to see more time with Gronkowski out of the picture and for the depth players James O?Shaughnessy, Matt Lengel, and Jacob Hollister to see plenty of opportunities. They are vying for one roster spot.

Howe notes that both Cooks and Julian Edelman won?t be playing. Instead, eyes should be on second-year players Malcolm Mitchell and Devin Lucien, along with second-year Patriot receiver Chris Hogan.

Gillislee?s absence has already opened the door for the likes of Rex Burkhead to have more snaps in short-yardage situation so the position is certainly worth monitoring.

 

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Jaguars : What to Watch



The Jacksonville Jaguars will play their first preseason game Thursday, August 10th against the defending champion New England Patriots at their home turf. What more could you ask for to see just how much the Jaguars have improved this offseason under new head coach Doug Marrone and executive vice president Tom Coughlin?

It will be hard to see just how much improvement the Jaguars have made this summer in week 1 of the preseason as the starters will most likely only play a couple of series to one quarter at most. But there are several important things to watch for throughout the game.

Here are the key areas to watch in preseason Week 1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars:

Cornerback depth

The Jaguars made a huge splash back in March when they signed former Houston Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye to a lucrative five year- $67.5 million deal. Bouye paired with budding star Jalen Ramsey will give Jacksonville the best young CB duo in the league according to Ike Taylor of NFL Network.

One thing the Jaguars did little to address though is the depth at CB behind these two players. The only player behind these two with starting experience is fourth year player Aaron Colvin who figures to be the teams nickel-back. If an injury were to occur to any of these three players that would force Josh Johnson or seventh round rookie Jalen Myrick into action. Neither of these players have much experience at all, so it will be interesting to see how they perform throughout this game against one of the deepest receiving corps in the NFL.

The tight ends

This is one of the few position battles on the team where we don?t really know who will start. Veteran Marcedes Lewis figures to be the main blocking tight end, but after Lewis there are several players battling for what figures to be two roster spots.

Ben Koyack came on strong at the end of 2016 making several impressive catches but he will be challenged by incoming free agent Mychal Rivera and third year vet Neal Sterling for the ?move? tight end position. There are also lesser known players who have had good camps so far that could push for one of these roster spots. Caleb Blueitt is a name to watch as he also has long snapping experience. The Jaguars recently lost long snapper Carson Tinker for the season due to a torn ACL. Keep an eye on these tight ends throughout the preseason.



The offensive line

Who will be the Jaguars starting five offensive linemen when week one of the regular season rolls around? Is Branden Albert retired for good now, or will he be cut or traded? There are all kinds of questions facing the Jaguars? offensive front so keep an eye how the starting five shakes out. The guess here is that the starting five is Cam Robinson/Patrick Omameh/Brandon Linder/Jeremy Parnell

However, there are two names to watch that could push for starting positions; Luke Bowanko, and Jeremiah Poutasi. Bowanko has played well in the past and could push for the starting center position which would allow Brandon Linder to move back to his more natural guard position. Poutasi on the other hand is more interesting, he played briefly in Tennessee after being selected in the third round in 2015, before coming to Jacksonville in 2016. He has split first team reps with Parnell at RT. Keep an eye on him throughout the preseason.



Blake Bortles

This horse has been beaten to death all summer long. We all have heard by now that Bortles? mechanics look better after working with QB coach Adam DeDeaux in California, but this isn?t his biggest concern. Blake Bortles must also make much better decisions if he want to remain the Jaguars starting quarterback. Will he make good decisions and keep cleaner mechanics throughout the preseason once he starts taking actual hits? Only time will tell.