Preseason: The Most Boring Time to be a Patriots Fan

Photo via Charlie Riedel (Associated Press)

Sitting down to watch the Patriots' preseason opener against the Redskins, I can't help but think about how different these games must feel for fans of other teams. Sure, nobody plays their top guys a lot, if at all, but New England is on another level, and there are never intriguing prospects there. To best articulate this point, here are some thoughts that could easily be swirling through viewers' heads.

It'll be great to see how Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell are progressing toward Week 1.

In line to potentially be the team's top two wide receivers, Edelman (ACL) and Mitchell (knee) never got onto the field in 2017. It's hard to imagine the Patriots won't be more dangerous with both of them potentially back for 16 games this regular season.

Edelman was on the field for a handful of snaps, and he'll be out until Week 5, due to a suspension for a performance-enhancing substance.

The outlook is far worse for Mitchell, as he was released earlier in the week. His troubling injury history made him too risky to depend on going forward.

In fact, while Edelman played, many of the other top skill position players did not. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Rex Burkhead were all held out of the game (and James White, Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett never touched the ball, either).

What about Eric Decker?

I left him out when discussing starters because no one's sure what his role will be yet. Signed last week, Decker is still working himself into shape and familiarizing with the offense. Therefore, the two-stint (Broncos and Jets) nemesis was also a no-show until the end of the first half.

Oh well, at least we'll see a lot from the first round picks.

Before this April, the Patriots hadn't made a first round selection since 2015. This year, they had two: lineman Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel, both out of Georgia.

Michel was unable to make his debut, due to an operation in which he had fluids drained from his knee. He will also be inactive for at least the next week and won't see game action for a while, possibly not before the regular season begins.

Wynn didn't see any action in the first half, either. He's been battling with Trent Brown for the left tackle spot, replacing Nate Solder, and also projects to be able to play guard, if needed. Right tackle Marcus Cannon was inactive, as well, yet Wynn still didn't receive time early.

Are there any project quarterbacks to look out for?

Mostly likely, the answer is no. The previous one, Jimmy Garoppolo, was traded to the 49ers midseason last year. Jacoby Brissett, who could have filled that void, won't be an option either, because he was sent packing before the 2017 season even started.

Instead, we're left with returning journeyman Brian Hoyer and seventh rounder Danny Etling (a journeyman at the collegiate level). Yikes!

It'll be cool to see the McCourty brothers on the field together.

Devin has been a fixture at safety for nearly a decade, and a low-risk trade was made to acquire his brother Jason from the Browns to potentially replace Malcolm Butler at cornerback.

Even with most of the starting defense on the field (briefly), neither of them played. They likely will at some point, but they'll at least be on a pitch count.

I guess it could be worse.

In truth, it has been more exaggerated in the past. At least Edelman, linebacker Dont'a Hightower (who also missed last season with a pectoral injury), and many other starters in the trenches played for a drive or two (and some for longer). That often isn't the case at all, except for the third game of the preseason.

Even so, the Patriots still played their rosterable players seemingly less than the Redskins (and likely much of the rest of the league) did in their opener.

The two most noteworthy takeaways may have been the defensive line rotation and the running back battle. Lawrence Guy and Deatrich Wise were given the starting nod over offseason pickups Danny Shelton and Adrian Clayborn, while Jeremy Hill appeared to outperform Mike Gillislee early, as they fight for what may be the final running back spot.

We'll see how the second half plays out, but only deep reserves will likely be in the game, and that's nothing new for the Patriots.