3 Thoughts Following Patriots Preseason Week 2

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The Patriots came away victorious in their second exhibition game of August, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 24 to 21 Saturday night. Here are three takeaways in the aftermath of the preseason home finale.

No Starters Yet Again

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New England's first-team units did not take the field for the second straight week this preseason. In the still fairly new three-game format, the second has most commonly been used as the "dress rehearsal' game in which the starters play a decent amount of the game in order to warm up for the regular season. However, Head Coach Mike Vrabel chose to sit his premier players this year, unlike 2025.

The decision came after two days of joint practices with Philadelphia that many media members described as productive. The first of which the Patriots' offense reportedly dominated. In his postgame press conference, Vrabel said a factor behind the choice was that he did not feel the team had great depth and so he wanted to be extra careful with his players. He followed up on that relatively alarming comment Monday morning.

"And we have to be able to find some guys behind them to be backups, to be the first guy in. To be the third outside linebacker. Be the third inside linebacker. Be the sixth offensive lineman. These things that are so critical," Vrabel said in an interview on 93.7 WEEI. "We have to continue to draft very well. We have to continue to develop those late-round picks, the guys that we can find that can be interior offensive linemen, that can be special teams linebackers, which is what we're hoping."

Punter Banged Up

Fans watching from the nearly-full Gillette Stadium were likely wondering why third-string quarterback Behren Morton (who would eventually lead the game on its game-winning drive) was handling punting duties all of a sudden. Regular punter Bryce Baringer suffered an injury early in the game. Vrabel confirmed the injury, and the team has since added veteran punter Matt Haack.

"Serious enough that we will have to sign a new punter," Vrabel said in a press conference Monday.

Haack has nine years of experience in the NFL playing for nine different teams. He spent the first four of those seasons with the Miami Dolphins after being signed as an undrafted free agent and has been a journeyman ever since. Throughout his career, he has averaged 45 yards per punt with a 5.4 percent touchback rate.

Young Receivers

Second-year receivers Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III both made plays Saturday night, including a 69-yard touchdown for Williams from the right hand of quarterback Tommy DeVito. The sophomore performances of the duo became more important Monday afternoon with the trade of Kayshon Boutte to the Houston Texans.

Chism, who had a 24-yard catch-and-run and an impressive kick return Saturday, may make the 53-man roster as the team's sixth receiver with this departure.