FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - The New England Patriots will start their preseason Thursday night when they take on the New York Giants after two weeks at training camp.
While it is not clear how much time starters like quarterback Mac Jones will spend on the field, fans can expect to see how the team’s offensive line depth is coming along, especially given the loss of running back James White, who announced his retirement earlier in the day.
“We got a lot of things that we need to work on that don’t have anything to do with (the) Giants,” Head Coach Bill Belichick told reporters earlier in the week.
He said his starting quarterback has made improvements over the summer after New England went 10-7 last year, with Jones throwing for 22 touchdowns, 3,801 yards and a completion rate of 67.6%.
“We all trust in each other at the end of the day,” Jones said during training camp. “When I walk on the field and there’s ten people that look into my eyes, I know that they’re going to trust me to do the right thing on game day.”
The second-year quarterback said there has been some frustration when it comes to communicating during training camp, but that ultimately, the players and coaches are “trying the best they can” and that “it’s practice and you can’t really tell until you get into a game.”
This year’s training camp also featured some player spats, with offensive center David Andrews and defensive tackle Christian Barmore getting booted from Tuesday’s practice for fighting.
But to players like defensive captain Devin McCourty, the flareups are part the process.
“We’re two different teams a lot of times,” McCourty said. “You got the offense, the defense and you’re going at it, we’re making each other better.”
Thursday’s preseason match will be the first of three games before the start of the regular season, with New England playing the Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders later in the month.
The Patriots will start the 2022 regular season in Miami on Sunday, Sept. 11, where they will take on the Dolphins.
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