New England Patriots drop preseason opener to Jacksonville Jaguars

In their first game since their Super Bowl win, the New England Patriots lost their preseason opener to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As expected in the first preseason game, the New England Patriots rested all of their veterans against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Due to the joint practices earlier in the week, head coach Bill Belichick wanted to see some of his young players on the field.

Considering this was the first preseason game of the season, resting veterans was a smart move for Belichick. Since the Patriots did have a short offseason because of their long playoff run, getting an extra week for veterans wasn’t a bad idea. Also, it allowed the coaching staff to get an extended look at some of the young players on the team.

While the Patriots rested all of their veterans, the Jaguars used the game to get some work for their first-team. Although a lot of players did sit for the Jaguars, we did see Blake Bortles, Chris Ivory, and rookie Leonard Fournette to name a few. Overall, the Patriots’ backups did pretty well against the first-team of the Jaguars. Jacksonville’s first-team offense only scored three points after being handed great field position by their special teams.

Even though there weren’t very many players that will have a role on the team this coming season playing, one name that people will recognize is Jimmy Garoppolo. As a quarterback with starting caliber talent, Garoppolo was playing with second and third string players. After a slow start, he was able to lead the Patriots on two straight touchdown drives. The protection wasn’t good for Garoppolo early on, but he was able to find his groove late in the half and in the beginning of the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they allowed far too many big plays to the Jaguars’ offense. Cyrus Jones was burnt in coverage on two touchdowns, and his chances of making the team have certainly decreased.

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For the Patriots, the loss doesn’t mean too much. With none of their veterans in action, this game was to see some of the younger players on the field in a live game. However, some poor performances will certainly have an impact when it is time to trim the roster down.