Joe Milton gave the New England Patriots a spark and other observations from their first preseason game
FOXBORO -- A Patriots rookie quarterback gave fans a reason to cheer at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night in the team's preseason opener, but it wasn't Drake Maye. Those honors belonged to Joe Milton III, who provided a spark and some excitement late against the Carolina Panthers.
Maye didn't really get a chance to do much of anything in his professional debut, playing just one series in New England's 17-3 win. After his first game as an NFL head coach, Jerod Mayo said that was the plan for both Maye and starter Jacoby Brissett going into the game.
Giving Maye just one series didn't sit well with fans, who saw a lot of Bailey Zappe on Thursday. A lot of Bailey Zappe. But getting to see the electric Milton for the final 19 minutes of the contest almost made up for the lack of Maye.
We've heard a lot about Milton's cannon since the Patriots drafted him in the sixth round in April. We got to see that and much more on Thursday night. Here are all the observations from New England's preseason victory.
Joe Milton kept us awake
Milton was the reason to watch the end of the game. He threw a lovely touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 38-yard connection with undrafted rookie JaQuae Jackson, who made a nice double move on the play. Milton also did a solid job looking off a safety before throwing his dart to Jackson.
Milton had the New England sideline fired up over his touchdown strike. The only thing missing was a celebratory Milton backflip.
You know about Milton's arm, but how about the rookie's legs? Those are pretty good too.
Milton also had a nice play where he faked a pass and then ran for 13 yards on a first-and-15 early in his touchdown drive.
He did have a pass behind Kayshon Boutte that was nearly picked, but overall Milton had a solid outing. He connected on four of his six pass attempts for 54 yards and his touchdown, while also racking up 22 yards on his five runs.
Mayo said that Milton was one of the players that exceeded his expectations on Thursday. But that isn't going to go to the rookie's head.
"Hearing that from the head coach, thank you to him but I have a lot of work to do," Milton said after the win. "There are a lot of things in the offense that I need to learn and need to learn fast."
Milton will give fans a reason to watch preseason games to the very end this summer. Just stay away from sports talk radio for all the "Milton should start" calls that are coming.
Not enough Drake Maye -- Too Much Bailey Zappe
One series is not enough for the rookie. Or the fans (and media) who want to see the rookie in action.
But that is all Drake Maye got on Thursday. He replaced Jacoby Brissett after one series, and then got just one of his own before Zappe took over. Maye was 2-for-3 for 19 yards on a pair of short connections with running backs. He didn't force anything, though his incompletion was a little high to Jalen Reagor.
Fans hoping to get a glimpse at the future of the franchise only saw Maye take seven snaps (one of which was a false start on the offensive line). Another series would have been nice, though Maye took a seat when the starting offensive linemen found their way to the bench.
Zappe played the rest of the first half and then into the second half. It was a lot of Bailey Zappe, who has taken the fewest snaps in camp and got the most on Thursday night. If the Patriots were "showcasing" him, it wasn't much better than what he put on tape at the end of last season.
It was a missed opportunity to get Maye some live snaps, see a different defense, and get him some game film to watch and break down over the weekend. Hopefully we'll see more Maye next Thursday night when the Eagles are in town. (The two teams also have a joint practice set for Tuesday.) The kid needs snaps, and the Pats kind of wasted an chance to get him some on Thursday.
Deatrich Wise, Patriots' D-Line couldn't be contained
Wise didn't see a lot of action, but he made the most of his time on the field with a sack on Carolina quarterback Jack (not Jake) Plummer.
The New England defensive line ate well all night against Carolina's makeshift line, getting to Plummer five times while racking up eight QB hits. They applied pressure throughout the game, which must have defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington pleased with his defense.
In addition to Wise, Jeremiah Pharms, Oshane Ximines, Christian Ellis, and Joe Morgan fed Plummer some turf on Thursday. Pharms also drew back-to-back holds in the second quarter.
The defense was filthy against Carolina's backup's backups. They should be really good against real teams, too.
Ja'Lynn Polk caught everything thrown his way
He didn't play a lot or see a lot of targets, but Polk caught all three passes that went his way. He had back-to-back catches on Zappe's first drive to move the chains.
Like Maye, we'd like to see more Polk and Javon Baker (two catches for 11 yards on four targets) going forward.
Offensive penalties were an issue early
The Patriots were hit with four penalties on their first three offensive drives. Two of those were of the pre-snap variety with Chuks Okorafor and La.Michael Pettway getting hit with false starts. Mitchell Wilcox was also flagged for a hold, and Zappe was penalized for a rough intentional grounding when he threw the ball away out of bounds with no one in the same area code.
At least the Patriots cleaned it up a bit and finished with only six infractions on the night.
David Wallis had some nice punt returns
The undrafted rookie out of Randolph Macon College racked up 36 yards on his two punt returns, including a 23-yard return where he made three Panthers missed tackles. That return helped set up New England's first touchdown.
Wallis made a nice cut to pick up an extra eight yards on his second attempt to finish with a 14-yard return. But he did get hit with a "too small" from Carolina punter Johnny Hekker, which is not something anyone expected to see when waking up Thursday morning.
He's got an uphill battle to make the team, but Wallis made a nice case on Thursday night.
Up and down night for Kayshon Boutte
Boutte had three receptions for 53 yards, with 28 of those yards coming on a nice third-down catch that he went up and snagged.
That catch brought the Pats to the Carolina 3-yard line, and two plays later Kevin Harris ran it in for the first score of the game. But Boutte also had a few drops, which he'll need to cut out if he wants to make the team.
