RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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FOXBOROUGH, MA - AUGUST 13: John Saunders Jr. #23 of the New England Patriots celebrates his interception with his teammates during a game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts on August 13, 2026, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The New England Patriots played the opening game of their 2026 preseason against the visiting Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night. It might have been a relatively uneventful game ending in a 13-13 tie , but there was still a lot to see and take away from.
Some guys seemingly helped themselves, while others had a tough time. Let’s sort through all of it and get into our takeaways from the first game of the season.
Andy Borregales struggles
Andy Borregales has looked great in training camp, but his practice performance did not translate to the field on Thursday. He hit two field goals from 40 and 52 yards, but also missed from quite badly from 55 as well as from 56 and then from 49 at the end of the game to win. He was solid, and clutch, last year, but his first game as a sophomore was rough.
The hope is that he gets the misses out of his system, but it was a really bad night for the second-year kicker. Maybe Julian Ashby being hurt and having to work with a backup long snapper hurt the operation, but, they’re professionals, so those misses still shouldn’t happen.
I’m not panicking just yet, and neither seems to be head coach Mike Vrabel , but he missed a few field goals during this week’s joint practice, and then missed three on Thursday. That’s not good, and honestly surprising based on what we have seen out of him for most of the summer so far.
Injury concerns arise
In preseason, you want to see what guys have, get everyone ready to play regular season football, and hopefully come out unscathed on the injury front. The Patriots didn’t manage to accomplish the latter on Thursday.
In the first quarter, Ben Brown, who is their top interior backup offensive lineman, went down with an injury . He went from the blue tent to the locker room, which isn’t a good sign. Then, later in the game, Andrew Rupcich got banged up as well even though he remained on the sideline and later gave the all-clear in the locker room. Still, losing two guys at a position where there was already minimal depth is a tough break for the Patriots. The hope is that neither injury is overly serious.
Depth O-linemen look good
Even though the depth along the offensive line took a hit on Thursday night when Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich got hurt, I liked what I saw from two depth tackles. Both Marcus Bryant, who played early in the game, and Dametrious Crownover, who played late in the game, had pretty solid games.
There’s probably only one spot after Will Campbell, Morgan Moses and Caleb Lomu at tackle, and right now Bryant should have the clear edge, but Crownover looked competent out there too (albeit against worse competition). I wonder if this performance gets him some run with the second unit to see if he can handle himself with them. Either way, for a position group that just got hit by injury, and already had a ton of questions on the interior, it was nice to at least see a few of the depth tackles register solid performances.
Tommy DeVito has his ups and downs
Second-string quarterback Tommy DeVito got the start for the Patriots, and had flashes where he looked very good, like his long pass to Cam Dorner that was wiped off because of a penalty, and the touchdown and curl route passes to Kyle Williams. He also missed a bunch of throws as well, including what should have been a deep TD to Williams, which he left short.
Ultimately, his inconsistency is why he is a backup in the first place, and shouldn’t surprise anyone. That said, he has looked good in camp, so I was thinking that he might have a more consistent night. He’s still a fine backup, but I would be worried if… you know what, never mind, I’m not even going to write those words down.
Penalties are a concern
On multiple occasions, big plays were wiped off the board because of ineligible man downfield penalties. One, came against rookie OT Caleb Romu and was a little suspect because he was engaged in a block, while the other was called against guard James Hudson. There were a bunch of other penalties on the offense as well, including a holding call on Lorenz Metz in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the Patriots finished the day with five accepted penalties for a loss of 35 yards. It is something that they are going to have to fix moving forward. Obviously, they played mostly backups, but you still expect better.
Two depth edges flash
It is no secret that the Patriots need more help rushing the passer from the edge, and the play of Jesse Luketa and Bradyn Swinson should be a bright spot for the Patriots. Both looked explosive and pressured the Colts’ quarterbacks multiple times; one of Swinson’s disruptions led to a John Saunders Jr. interception, and one of Luketa’s led to a sack by Joshua Farmer.
The edge room has a few spots up for grabs, and those two looking good could help at least one of them grab a roster spot.
John Saunders Jr. has a really solid performance
Safety is another of the spots where the Patriots don’t seem to have a ton of quality depth, but John Saunders Jr. had a nice night. He had multiple run stops, an interception with a good return, and also was credited with a forced fumble when he knocked the ball out at the goal line. It might not have been an actual fumble, but the refs missed it, and the Patriots benefitted from a heads-up play.
While Saunders Jr. still appears to be on the outside looking in as far as the 53-man team is concerned. More performances like Thursday’s might help him with his case to get one of the depth spots, though.
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