INSTANT REPLAY: Jaguars Get Better Of Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The good news? Professional football came back to Foxborough Thursday night. The bad news? You'll have to wait another month for the games to have meaning.

With most of the starters and veterans dressing but not touching the field, the Patriots lost the first game of the preseason, a 31-24 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Entering the second quarter tied 3-3, the Jaguars made the most of their big plays, capitalizing on blown coverage, large penalties, and other errors made by the Patriots defense. The Jags took the lead with 9:03 left in the first half on a 97-yard touchdown pass from Chad Henne to Keelan Cole. The Jags wide receiver burned Cyrus Jones on a run up the left for the game's opening touchdown.

The defense continued to put the Jacksonville into scoring position. With 3:17 left in the half, a pass interference call on Jason Thompson moved the Jaguars from their own 48-yard line to the New England 8-yard line. Two plays later, Leonard Fournette scored on a run a yard outside the end zone. The extra point gave the visitors a 17-3 lead.

The lead would be wiped out by touchdowns on the last drive of the first half and the first of the second half. On the two drives, Jimmy Garoppolo went 10/10 for 113 yards, most notably hitting a leaping Austin Carr in the back of the end zone.

One play and 79 yards later, the lead was returned to Jacksonville.

The defense continued to give up big plays, including a 42-yard pass from Brandon Allen to Dede Westbrook where Jones simply looked lost.

A 3-yard run from D.J. Foster cut the lead in half but the Patriots were unable to capitalize on opportunities late in the game, with a pair of Hail Mary throws from midfield dropping to the ground with seconds remaining.

In a nutshell, this was the general feeling concerning the Patriots defense.

Carr was one of the bright spots for the Patriots aside from Garoppolo. The undrafted rookie out of Northwestern caught five receptions on seven targets for 44 yards and a touchdown. Garoppolo played about two-and-a-half quarters, ending the night 22/28 for 235 yards.

The Patriots return to the field Aug. 19 against the Houston Texans.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Steven Senne