Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season is finally here and the Patriots are gearing up to face the Eagles in their season opener on Sunday. With the reigning NFC champs coming to town, New England will need all hands on deck and all the help it can get if it wants to pull off the upset.
Unfortunately, even after a full preseason to prepare for Week 1, several players will not be able to suit up against Philly. Whether they’re still rehabbing from last year, suffered an injury during training camp or simply don’t fit into Bill Belichick’s game plan, not every member of the team’s 53-man roster will get in the game on Sunday.
With that in mind, here are three Patriots players that fans shouldn’t expect to see on the field this weekend.
3 Patriots Inactives Week 1
1. Pharaoh Brown
The Pats signed Pharaoh Brown off the practice squad earlier this week, giving them a full complement of three tight ends for Sunday’s game.
That said, I wouldn’t expect Brown to play much, if at all. Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki are both ahead of him on the depth chart and should see the large majority of snaps as established veterans.
Brown’s relatively last-minute signing means he won’t have a ton of time to get in the swing of things offensively or develop much of a rapport with Mac Jones.
Brown has a fair amount of NFL experience under his belt (five seasons, 55 games, 36 starts), but hasn’t made much of an impact offensively. Now 29, he’s probably not good enough to hold his own against Philadelphia’s formidable defense.
Unless Henry or Gesicki go down with an injury, I won’t be surprised if Brown spends the whole game on the bench as a pure depth option.
2. Bailey Zappe/Matt Corral
Since Belichick hasn’t named a backup quarterback for Mac Jones yet (classic Belichick), we’ll include the two most likely options here in Bailey Zappe and Matt Corral.
Regardless of who ends up behind Jones on the depth chart, however, Jones is probably going to be the only New England QB who plays on Sunday. Like it or not, Jones is the starter and the Pats have committed to him in that role…for now.
If a change is coming, it certainly won’t be in Week 1, especially after Belichick cut every QB on the roster except Jones last week. He’s clearly “the guy” right now, for better or worse, just as he’s been all preseason.
Belichick took a lot of heat last year after swapping Jones and Bailey in a nationally televised Monday Night Football game against the Bears, which had disastrous results and appeared to damage the confidence of both players.
The only way Zappe or Corral ends up in this game is if Jones gets hurt or if the game becomes a total blowout, but even the latter is unlikely. With the Pats playing at home, Belichick probably doesn’t want to rile up the crowd with “Bailey Zappe” chants and start another quarterback controversy.
Accordingly, expect Jones to be under center for all of New England’s snaps on Sunday.
3. Verderian Lowe
The Patriots just traded for Verderian Lowe last week, so he’s still getting the hang of the offense and may not be ready for game reps by the time Sunday rolls around.
Furthermore, Lowe is going to have plenty of competition for snaps. New England currently has an abundance of offensive linemen on its roster as Belichick tries to sort out the best fits, which means some of them probably won’t play at all on Sunday.
And with Lowe just coming over, the Pats may prefer to ease him in. He’s only in his second season and still has a lot to learn after barely playing for Minnesota last year, so he’s probably not ready for the pressure of Week 1 against a team as good as Philly.
Lowe should get some game reps eventually, of course, so New England knows what it has in him, but Week 1 feels a bit premature and may not be the right time for a test drive.
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