The New England Patriots officially kicked off the 2024 NFL preseason in front of their fans at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.
Patriots fans got an opportunity to see the veterans, rookies, and new faces, who will hopefully make plays when the regular season kicks off on Sept. 8. They also got to see first-year head coach Jerod Mayo on the sidelines, who is taking over for Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick.
Mayo secured his first preseason win as New England captured a 17-3 victory over Carolina in dreary conditions. However, despite the win, New England still has much to work on in practice next week, along with a few players who didn't help their cause to win a job on the Patriots' 53-man roster.
Below, we’ll highlight those players who struggled in their preseason debut and what that means for them going forward.
1. Chukwuma Okorafor, OT
The Patriots’ starters didn’t play much in Thursday night’s preseason opener but we got a quick look at New England’s starting offensive line.
Most of the starters on the o-line played well with the snaps they received, but veteran offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor would like a re-do. Okorafor is a front-runner to start at left or right tackle this season after signing a one-year deal in free agency with New England.
However, the veteran offensive lineman struggled in the first quarter with a false start in Drake Maye’s first series and gave up pressure on a critical third down.
Maye throws high to Reagor, but he gets both hands on it. INC. Lowe gets beat on 2nd down run, and Okorafor gives up pressure on 3rd down, resulting in a quick swing pass to Harris that ends up short of the sticks.
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) August 8, 2024
Heading into the preseason opener, Pats fans wondered how much Maye would play, given the state of the offensive line. To the surprise of most fans, New England’s offensive line didn’t play horribly in the rainy conditions, but Okorafor’s miscues could open the door for rookie Caedan Wallace.
That said, it's only the first preseason game, and Okorafor has done well enough in camp thus far to keep a hold on one of the starting tackle jobs. Nonetheless, the narrative can change on the veteran lineman if those same miscues appear in New England’s next preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
2. JaMycal Hasty
Heading into Thursday night’s preseason opener, we highlighted veteran running back JaMycal Hasty as one of the players playing for their job.
Hasty is competing with Kevin Harris for the RB3 spot behind Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. The 28-year-old running back wasn’t overly impressive on the ground, posting 10 yards on five carries (two yards per carry).
That said, Harris wasn’t that much better than Hasty as he had 22 rushing yards on eight carries. However, he scored a rushing touchdown in the first half.
And then to make matters worse, undrafted free agent running back Terrell Jennings led New England in rushing yards (38) and had a good run in the fourth quarter.
Nice run by UDFA Terrell Jennings pic.twitter.com/bVfLBjSYKE
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 9, 2024
Even though it doesn’t look good for Hasty with the performances from Jennings and Harris, the RB3 competition is far from over. The veteran running back wasn’t great on the ground, but he had two receptions (two targets) for 16 yards.
We know the Patriots love running backs who can run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield. Hasty has to show he can do both things and play special teams to lock down the RB3 role.
3. Mitchell Wilcox
The Patriots entered the preseason with a crowded tight end room. New England has four pass catchers competing for the TE3 job, including Mitchell Wilcox.
New England signed Wilcox before the 2024 NFL Draft in April after he spent the last three years with the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the 27-year-old tight end didn’t make a good first impression with Patriots fans on Thursday night.
The former Bengals tight end was called for a holding penalty and had a pass to open the game hit his hands.
The Patriots have four penalties for 29 yards. They've all come on offense.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) August 8, 2024
Okorafor false start
Pettway false start
Wilcox holding
Zappe intentional grounding
Jacoby Brissett overthrows Mitchell Wilcox with his first throw of the night pic.twitter.com/lqVGuXkCfX
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 8, 2024
Wilcox finished the game with one catch (four targets) for five yards, which isn’t the best statline when you want to win a job in the preseason. Fans were more impressed with rookie tight end Jaheim Bell, who has the versatility and skillset to be utilized across the formation.
Bell only finished with one reception for 11 yards, but his upside is much higher than Wilcox, who needs to be better in next week’s preseason game.
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