National Football League

Patriots stock watch: Who’s up, who’s down ahead of first preseason game?

Published Aug. 9, 2023 3:37 p.m. ET

The New England Patriots are getting ready for Week 1 of the regular season. That includes three preseason games, starting with the Houston Texans on Thursday. So now is as good a time as any to review the progress (or digression) of New England's top players.

To be clear, there will be no shortage of opportunities for players to make or break their spot on the roster and/or crack the starting unit. Those efforts will most likely take place in joint practices with the Green Bay Packers and the Tennessee Titans. Those sessions are more important than the preseason games.

In the meantime, let's examine who has played well and who has struggled through this sizable portion of training camp.

UP: WR Demario Douglas

"That's my guy," Mac Jones said.

Jones is generous about who he brings into his inner circle, but that's still an important vote of confidence for Douglas, a sixth-round slot receiver out of Liberty.

"He's pretty fast. He's actually from my hometown, so he's kind of a legend down in Jacksonville. He was very good in 7-on-7 because he showed that quickness so often," Jones said. "He's always got the separation."

Douglas has worked his way into the rotation among the first-team players, particularly as receiver Tyquan Thornton has dealt with injuries.

DOWN: WR Tyquan Thornton

It's a bit ominous to look at 1) how much Thornton was playing at the end of 2022, and 2) how little he was producing. The team gave him a fairly substantial role down the stretch of the season, but he didn't capitalize on it. For the season, he had just 22 catches for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

It has happened again in camp.

Though he started the offseason with the first team, the Patriots have moved Thornton down to the second-team offense. To make matters worse, he's also nursing an injury. Thornton's outlook is getting grim, with the receiver struggling to stay healthy while failing to put up numbers when he's on the field.

There's a lot of pressure on him to succeed. He was drafted in the same area as George Pickens (Steelers), Skyy Moore (Chiefs) and Alec Pierce (Colts). Thornton is a part of Bill Belichick's legacy in drafting receivers. And — on a pure football level — the team really needs a WR1. Thornton isn't anywhere close to that as he begins his second season.

UP: OG Atonio Mafi

I don't know that Mafi's ascent will last long. But let's make sure to note his strong play while it lasts. Mafi has climbed the depth chart due to his strong play and the injuries to Cole Strange and Michael Onwenu. Without either starting guard on the field, Mafi has protected Jones and blocked for Rhamondre Stevenson.

Mafi is feisty. He hits defensive linemen hard. He is the type of bruising offensive lineman that Belichick seems to like having on the unit. Maybe Mafi spends the year as a depth option, but he is proving that he's a very competent one.

DOWN: OG Cole Strange

It sometimes feels unkind to beat up on injured players. But I guess I'm doing it anyway. Strange was good but not exceptional in his rookie season. That's fine for a rookie — even a highly scrutinized first-round pick. But it's his second year. The Patriots need to start seeing elite performance from their guard. When you take an interior offensive lineman in Round 1, he should really be elite by his second year. And Strange's knee injury isn't helping his cause.

For the record, he seemed to be trending the right way before his injury.

"He had an opportunity to train this offseason. He really took advantage of that physically. Obviously, mentally he is light years ahead of where he was," Belichick said. "His communication is way better on the offensive line. He had a really good offseason, and it has been evident all through the spring, even a few days out here."

Hopefully for the Patriots, Strange will be healthy in time for joint practices.

UP: RB Rhamondre Stevenson

It's strange to think that, in his third season, Stevenson is entering the prime of his career. It's even stranger to think that, given the intense downturn in the running-back market, his prime may only last a few more years.

Perhaps because of that, the Patriots have been careful with Stevenson. Belichick rested him a great deal in the early days of camp, just like the coach did with edge Matt Judon, one of the team's most important players. (That said, Judon eventually returned to practice after getting a restructured contract that included a hefty sum of guaranteed money.)

"When we don't have pads on, I'm not really itching as much," Stevenson said. "But since the pads are on, yeah, I'm itching to get out there."

While Thornton's absence has been a bad sign for the Patriots, Stevenson's absence is just the opposite. He has quickly established a tremendous amount of value after leading the team in rushing yards (1,040) and receptions (69) last season.

New England is taking care of one of its young stars with rest. That's how well Stevenson has established himself.

DOWN: QB Bailey Zappe

There's no quarterback battle. This is Jones' team.

Last year, there was evidence of competition at the position. This year, there is none, and anyone who says otherwise is simply manufacturing a storyline.

The good news for the Patriots is that Zappe looks like a backup-caliber quarterback. The bad news for Zappe is that he looks like a backup-caliber quarterback.

UP: CB Christian Gonzalez

The first-round pick hasn't slayed in every practice. There have been practices in which DeVante Parker gets the better of Gonzalez. But the Patriots have been committed to giving Gonzalez the reps that he needs with the first-team defense.

New England is also putting him out on an island to let him learn in the deep end. It's a high compliment to the rookie, who is going through the typical growing pains. That said, those troubles might get worrisome if they persist into that final set of joint practices with the Titans against receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who picked Tennessee over New England in free agency.

That'll be a fun matchup to watch.

DOWN: CB Jack Jones

On the field, he's playing well. That's what has made everything else so exasperating.

In June, police arrested Jones at Logan Airport after he tried to go through security with guns and ammunition in his carry-on luggage. Belichick has said he won't comment on the ongoing legal situation with Jones.

This training camp has also been turbulent. Just when he seemed to jump back into the mix with the first-team defense, Jones got into a spat with Kendrick Bourne. For reasons unclear, Jones left the field for about 20 minutes. It looked like, maybe, he'd been kicked out of practice — but then he returned and took a knee on the sideline, where he watched the final 30 minutes of practice. It was bizarre. Jones isn't making the situation better for himself.

There's a lot of pressure on the young man. Here's hoping he can turn everything around on and off the field.

?!?!?: OT Trent Brown

He has barely practiced in training camp, with the team leaning on Conor McDermott and Riley Reiff at tackle. Brown missed some of minicamp due to a flight cancelation and bad weather.

"Trent's in good shape. He's lighter than he's been, and he's been working at left tackle," Belichick said.

A Patriots source told me the tackle is dealing with "bumps and bruises," which is why they were holding him out of practice. He jumped back in the mix at a greater participation level on Tuesday. He'll need to keep ramping up.

He should be their starter at the position. And frankly, he needs the practice.

?!?!?: QB Mac Jones

Jones, who has been improving in new OC Bill O'Brien's system, has shut the door on any momentum for Zappe. The third-year QB seems to have regained confidence in the areas that are important to his game: quick passing and pre-snap diagnosis.

"This system puts a lot on [a QB's] plate, but it also allows us to know what to do to play really fast. So, I think it's a great system," Jones said.

The biggest question is whether that's enough. My sense is that the Patriots, if they're going to be successful in 2023, will need to unlock the intermediate and deep passing game. In the intermediate game, Jones will have to make better use of Bourne and tight end Hunter Henry than he did last year. Newcomer Mike Gesicki, who has been quiet in camp, will also need to play a key role.

But deep? There's less life. Parker is, by far, the top option. He is great as a contested catcher. But Jones and Parker really struggled to link up downfield last year. They'll need to prove that can get it done in joint practices and then in the regular season. Because quarterbacks are protected with red jerseys during practices — and they face vanilla defenses in preseason — we won't really know how good Jones looks in O'Brien's offense.

Not until Week 1.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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