Keion White facing an unclear outlook, and more lessons learned from Patriots-Giants

The New England Patriots got absolutely destroyed in their final preseason game on Thursday night. Entering the contest with two victories in their bag, they got handed a 42-10 defeat by the New York Giants to finish the exhibition slate with a 1-2 record.

Even with the majority of starters sitting out, and despite the game being incredibly boring, there were still some lessons to be learned. Let’s get into them now.

The Patriots showed us that…

…they had seen enough of their starters: Most of, if not all, of the starters for the Patriots had the night off on Thursday. That was telling for who actually played in the game. On defense, Jabrill Peppers, Craig Woodson, and Keion White played, and on offense, Jared Wilson played. I would assume that they wanted to get Wilson more reps, since he’s a raw player, and he didn’t start last week. Defensively, it looked like all the safeties, except for Jaylinn Hawkins, played, so there’s nothing to take away from the fact that they both played.

“Just a short week,” said head coach Mike Vrabel after the game. “We had a couple good days. That’s kind of where I was, decided to do that, give us a chance to evaluate some other players.”

Keion White is a different story though.

…Keion White might be facing an unclear outlook: Keion White worked almost exclusively with the starters all offseason, but he still played the entire first half on Thursday. This could be a sign that the Patriots aren’t happy with what they have gotten out of him recently, or that they want to get more reps for him.

According to Vrabel, it was the latter.

“I decided and talked to Keion and wanted to see him work on some things and continue to develop and try to continue to improve,” Vrabel explained after the game. “He was excited about playing. He wanted to play more. That’s kind of our whole job, to be ready to play and prepared until told otherwise. Just try to work on some things that we had been talking about and do it in game action.”

Despite Vrabel’s statements, and some reassurances from other coaches on staff earlier this week, it looks like White’s role is a question mark with two weeks to go until the season opener. It seemed like he was primed for a big season earlier in training camp, but seeing him passed on the depth chart by K’Lavon Chaisson and subsequently playing extensive snaps in a meaningless game might be cause for concern.

…interior depth is a serious concern: The Patriots’ top five along the offensive line looks to be significantly better than it was last year, which is good news for the team as a whole. The depth behind the starter level, however, looks like it might be just as bad as it was last year, especially on the interior.

Sidy Sow and Cole Strange both struggled on Thursday night, and the Patriots haven’t seen much from Caedan Wallace because of injury (even though he was solid enough against the Giants). Ben Brown appears to be the top interior backup at the moment, but, behind him, your guess is as good as mine as to who the Patriots want on the roster.

My guess is that they end up scooping up a guy or two from other teams to improve their depth.

…Javon Baker looks good on special teams, but bad at receiver: Javon Baker was on the roster bubble coming into the game, and his play didn’t do much to change that. He was awful as a receiver, dropping a pair of passes and being an overall non-factor on the offensive side of the ball.

The kicking game was a different story, though. He played very well on special teams, including a great play on a fair catch that saw him drive the blocker into the return man, causing a fumble and helping the Patriots get the ball in the red zone. If the team wants him for his special teams play, he did a good amount to help himself on Thursday. If the team wants him to play receiver, however, he all but ended his chance to make the roster.

It’s all going to depend on what the team wants out of him, but I think there’s a good chance that Baker still makes the initial roster as a special teamer and emergency wideout.

…Kyle Dugger continues to fight for a roster spot: It’s no secret that Kyle Dugger has slid down the depth chart, and might not be a fit for the Vrabel system. As a result, he has played deep into the last two preseason games.

A longtime starter, he could have easily been unhappy about his usage and not given his full effort out there. To his credit, however, he has continued to play hard and might have played his best football of the summer on Thursday night.

Dugger has proven that he is still an NFL talent, and, even if the Patriots don’t have a spot for him, someone might be willing to trade for him after what he has done the last few games.

…the kicking battle is too close to call: Parker Romo and Andy Borregales have been battling all camp for the kicker spot, and Borregales got all the kicking duties on Thursday night. He looked shaky, which is how he has looked the last few weeks of camp as well.

You would assume that it would be Borregales’ job to lose given that he was selected in this year’s draft, and it probably is, but there is an argument to be made that Romo has been the better kicker throughout camp. If that’s enough for him to win the job remains to be seen, but we will find out no later than Tuesday.

…they have a void at CB6: The Patriots have four very solid cornerbacks atop the depth chart, and a fifth in D.J. James, who has played well all camp. Outside of those five, however, the Patriots don’t have much to work with.

Kobee Minor has probably looked the best of the depth players, but I would still be surprised if he made the team. I had thought that Brandon Crossley was pushing for a roster spot, with his ability to play special teams, but he didn’t even see the field until the fourth quarter on Thursday night — a possible indication that he is not even on the bubble anymore.

I would think that Minor and maybe Crossley, Miles Battle, or Jordan Polk (who had a pair of penalties on Thursday) end up on the practice squad. Still, the Patriots need to hope that their top corners stay healthy, because I don’t think any of their other guys are ready to play real NFL snaps yet.

…Ben Wooldridge simply isn’t that good: There has been some discussion about the backup quarterback in New England, and a thought that maybe Joshua Dobbs would be passed on the depth chart by Ben Wooldridge. After seeing what we saw on Thursday, I’m not sure how anyone could possibly still believe that.

The undrafted rookie was, frankly, not good. He had numerous balls knocked down at the line, threw a bad interception that was returned for a touchdown, and simply was not very accurate with the football. He could stick on the practice squad if the Patriots believe that he could provide some good looks in practice, but it’s pretty safe to say that he won’t be on the active roster — or be pushing Dobbs — any time soon.

…one more receiver makes a push for the roster: The Patriots don’t have a ton of good depth on the roster, but one guy made a push on Thursday night: undrafted free agent Jeremiah Webb, who caught three passes for 31 yards and a touchdown and also gained a combined 34 yards on two punt returns.

Webb is pretty far down the depth chart, but he showed some real explosion and could be a good depth piece for the Patriots to stash on the practice squad. 

…the backup tight ends disappoint: The top two tight ends on the roster, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, are locked into their positions on the roster, but there seemed to be a third spot up for grabs at tight end. None of the depth at the spot seemed to do much to take that spot, however.

I initially thought that C.J. Dippre would have the inside track because of his blocking ability, but he hasn’t really flashed in camp or in the three games. Fellow UDFA Gee Scott Jr. made some plays in camp, but never consistently, and most of the other guys made a splash in camp either.

If they want to go three deep at tight end over depth elsewhere, the final spot is most likely going to go to Jake Westover because he has looked like a competent fullback at times. It is possible that Scott or Dippre will stick on the practice squad, just like fellow TE/FB hybrid Cole Fotheringham, but none of them has made a strong case to be a guy that the Patriots will use one of their roster spots to keep.