These rapidly disappearing summer weekends are incredibly precious. While there’s still technically over a month of summer left, we all know that the season lasts from Memorial Day through Labor Day, meaning we only have two more weekends until Fall starts.
And that there was no place I’d rather be yesterday than inside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon watching a meaningless football game between the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings goes a long way toward how excited I am for this coming NFL season. It was an up-and-down week of practices for New England, and an up-and-down game for the team overall, but everyone walked out of there unscathed and the Pats are now 2-0 on the year.
**1.** The question I asked last week was whether there would be any teams treating Week 2 of the preseason like the old Week 3 or whether Week 3, the new Week 4, would still be the original Week 3. Based on what we saw yesterday, Week 2 is still Week 2 and next week will be the dress rehearsal.
**2.** Apparently, the starters weren’t even supposed to see any time yesterday, but after a rocky week of practices Mike Vrabel decided they needed some more reps. So we got ourselves some Patriots 1s vs some Vikings 2s and 3s in the Mike Felger dream scenario of a no-win situation. If the starters looked good, who cares, if they looked bad, they got shut down by backups and the season is already over.
**3.** As for how they looked… if I had to give the starters a grade yesterday, it would obviously be an Incomplete. But that’s a copout, so I’m going to go ahead and give the grade that I used to throw myself a party for on the rare occasions I reached that particular height: B-.
**4.** I thought that Drake Maye looked great in terms of pocket mobility and extending plays with his legs, highlighted by the 20-yard throw to Mack Hollins that represented the best throw of the preseason thus far. He also seemed to either misread a few routes or wasn’t on the same page with his guys, as he put some passes in tough spots. Since we’re firmly in the “if your guys look bad, no need to worry it’s just preseason” portion of the NFL calendar, we can all chalk it up to whichever of the following cliches best suits your mania:
* “He just needs to settle.”
* “Good to see him getting the early-season jitters out of the way.”
* “It’s expected to come out hot after a tough week of practice.”
* “Better throwing too high than too low.”
**5.** Additionally, the starting O-line of Campbell/Brown/Bradbury/Onwenu/Bryant seemed to do their best to duplicate my strategy as a lover: serviceable but unspectacular. The bulk of the success the running backs had seemed to come from fighting through tackles as opposed to exploiting well-blocked gaps.
**6.** That said, people are as down on Garrett Bradbury as I’ve ever seen people down on anyone. I think if you were to take a poll on whether New England should put Bradbury at center or just leave the position vacant and only trot four linemen out there, Bradbury would get the nod on a 51 to 49 percent squeaker.
**7.** For the most part, though, I’m not really taking much away from this game that’s going to have any real staying power in September and beyond. The offense ran some plays, the defense ran some plays, and we’re on to the next. So the rest of the Fan Notes for this one will be nothing more than a meaningless series of observations and nonsensical thoughts.
**8.** If you, like me, watched this game on the NFL Network, you got the Vikings preseason team of Ben Leber, Per Bercich, and Paul Allen. Nothing against those guys at all… but I’d like to hope you (also like me) developed a renewed appreciation for preseason color-man extraordinaire Scott Zolak yesterday. I feel like the majority of Patriots Nation appreciates Zo in the way that they appreciate seeing a few Seagrams Escapes floating around in the cooler at the backyard cookout — good to know it’s there if you’re desperate, but you can bet you’ll be digging around for something better. But Zolak brings a genuine energy to the booth that’s more rare around the league than you’d think.
**9.** I do hope, though, that Paul Allen’s pronunciation of Kayshon Boutte’s name sticks with the rest of the crews. Really took his time and enunciated each syllable, Kay-Shawn-Boo-Tee. The guy just couldn’t quite turn the corner on that one.
**10.** Special teams continues to be a real preseason bright spot for the Patriots, which is for sure worth noting. Special teams in August is its own weird, unpredictable entity, as it’s this combination of starters and the last chance for other guys to make the team. But the punt game is strong, the return game is strong, and other than a botched 57-yarder, the field goals are coming fast and furious.
**11.** The real win from yesterday was that it allowed me to play my favorite offseason game, “Who The Hell Is That Guy?” My obsession with this team is such that I can always name the entire roster from top to bottom, including the entire coaching staff and practice squad (I can assure you this comment is not a brag or a flex. It’s a cry for help), so it’s a weird feeling to see a player in a Patriots jersey and I have no clue who he is. Yesterday’s winner? No. 49, tight end Cole Fotheringham, signed by the Patriots just a few weeks ago. His one catch for six yards will likely represent his entire resume as a member of the New England Patriots.
**12.** The flip side of “Who The Hell Is That Guy?,” of course, is “Who The Hell Is That Guy!” And That Guy, through one month of practices and games, is TreVeyon Henderson and I don’t think it’s particularly close. From his contributions on special teams to his blitz pickup to his ability to generate plays out of nothing, the kid is an absolute beast. Count me among the many who were confused as to why the Patriots drafted a running back in the 2nd round of the 2025 draft given their many needs elsewhere, but the members of Team Best Player Available got themselves some nice ammunition for their cause with Henderson.
**13.** If Efton Chism isn’t on the final roster at this point, I’ll be amazed. He’s not going to clear waivers and he’s the kind of player that has historically thrived in a McDaniels offense.
**14.** I really hope that Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and TreVeyon Henderson live up to the potential they’ve shown so far. The Patriots could possibly have one of the better running back rooms in the league. I don’t know if anyone has referred to them as the Sons of Anarchy yet, but I haven’t heard it, so I’ll be filing for copyright now.
**15.** Too bad Lan Larison is on IR, as that would have been another son running around wreaking havoc.
**16.** Man I miss that show. No matter what the storyline, if you don’t have dynamic characters that you care about, it’s not going to land the way that it could. _Sons of Anarchy_ had some absolutely amazing characters.
**17.** I should also start thinking about what my nickname for Chism should be. Leaning towards Chizzy right now, but we’ll have to see.
**18.** His name is also an anagram for Smote Finch. I’d be lying if I said that The Smote Finch isn’t a banger nickname for a shifty white guy working out of the slot.
**19.** Good for both teams going for it on fourth and short inside the red zone. I’m not sure what purpose chip shot field goals serve in games where the score is completely irrelevant.
**20.** I also love the Mic’d Up with the coach feature you’re seeing across the league. You’re _never_ going to get that kind of access and insight in-season, and listening to Patriots legend Kevin O’Connell talk about ways to call screens, which plays they’re running, what he’s hoping to see, and immediate analysis of what just transpired is pretty awesome.
**21.** However, I really, really, really don’t see why you need a split-screen of a guy with a headset to go alongside the actual game. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to take up over half the screen with a thick purple border, a coach walking casually around the sidelines, and MIC’D UP WITH KEVIN O’CONNELL in massive block letters across the bottom likely also thought that Thursday Night games, an extra week of the season, and a complete lack of consistency on player discipline was the way to go. There’s absolutely zero reason to waste so much real estate on things that have nothing to do with gameplay.
**22.** I couldn’t help but notice Kyle Dugger still playing with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter. I’m not sure you can attribute that particular chunk of playing time up to giving him more reps as he continues to get back up to speed. I don’t know if you can come back from that, to be honest.
Just one more meaningless game to go, then we all get to start ignoring our families again until at least January.
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