New England Patriots: 3 takeaways from Preseason Week 2
3. Poor outing by the secondary
The only issue tonight with the New England Patriots play was the performance of the secondary.
Not physical at the line and not keeping an eye on the ball, Patriots corners were routinely getting burned by the Eagles backup WRs.
On a 4-yard fade route in the second quarter, Eagles wide receiver Shelton Gibson did a little inside fake before he faded out, and left cornerback Jason McCourty in the dust. As commentator Scott Zolak put it “It wasn’t even contested”.
Eagles third string QB Nate Sudfeld dropped 312 yards against the Pats secondary and seemed to be targeting the inexperienced members of the team such as Keion Crossen.
Crossen was by far the worst member of the team tonight, constantly getting beat deep and getting out muscled.
Jordan Richards to no one’s surprise also had a rough night in coverage. The Patriots played a decent amount of man defense with a cover one shell tonight, leaving Richards as the lone safety playing a center field like role.
The only issue with that is, Richards did not seem to be reactant to the ball at all. Besides a lone pass breakup in the red zone on Eagles tight end Richard Rodgers, Jordan looked lost.
He routinely let receivers blow by Pats corners and offered no help whatsoever.
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If Richards wants to make the roster, he needs to prove he has some range and be better reacting to the play at hand.
The New England Patriots next game is next Friday as they travel to North Carolina to take on Cam Newton and the Panthers.