The New England Patriots will get one final preseason tune-up Friday in Nashville, but it wouldn't be a surprise if starting quarterback Mac Jones gets the night off.
On Thursday, ESPN's Mike Reiss suggested the Patriots could sit Jones for the preseason finale. Jones took a few hard hits during Saturday's preseason game in Green Bay behind a patchwork offensive line, so it may be wise to hold him out of Friday's game to avoid risking injury.
The Patriots' offensive line has been the team's primary concern heading into the new campaign. Injuries have plagued the unit this summer as Mike Onwenu, Cole Strange, Conor McDermott and Calvin Anderson each have mssed time. The offensive tackle spots, in particular, have been a giant question mark.
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So are the Patriots' offensive line woes a valid reason to sit Jones for Friday's preseason tilt with the Tennessee Titans? Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer thinks so.
"I can't sit here and criticize the Patriots for being careful when their line is a little banged up. You don't want to throw your starting linemen out there if they're not ready because you don't have depth behind them," Breer said on Thursday's Early Edition. "And then if you're throwing backups out there, well, you wouldn't want to put your quarterback in harm's way either."
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One of the hard hits Jones took on Saturday resulted in a strip sack. Green Bay's Kingsley Enagbare blew past left tackle Andrew Stueber, who's usually on the interior, to get to the Patriots' third-year signal-caller.
"I don't know how fair a spot that was for him," our Phil Perry said. "The Packers didn't have their starters out there either, but he's working against real NFL players and he gives up a strip sack where Mac Jones got hit and then got hit again, sort of got belly flopped on when the ball was rolling around there. So that's obviously a situation that you have to avoid if you can if you're the Patriots."
Perry, who has attended Patriots training camp all summer long, notes that the o-line issues have been evident in practice as well.
"It wasn't just the Packers game that would be the concern to me if I'm Bill Belichick and his football staff. It would be the last two days of practice. They couldn't protect (Jones) in practice either," Perry said. "Fully-padded practice yesterday, I had the Patriots down for allowing at least six sacks and I had two more snaps where I thought it was questionable. He might have been sacked on those plays. That's eight potential sacks on 25 pass plays.
"That's an absurd number, and not only that, but of those eight sacks there were a couple -- two or three -- where the guys were coming in completely unblocked. So you had 'free runners,' which are a real problem. It means the communication is an issue as well as just the physical ability to hold your own block."
Bill Belichick and Co. will need to figure out their o-line problem sooner rather than later. The Patriots will open their regular season Sept. 10 against a vaunted Philadelphia Eagles defense.
The problem is there aren't many reasonable reinforcements out there. One potential option, tackle Josh Jones, was traded from the Arizona Cardinals to the Houston Texans on Thursday.
If Jones indeed sits out the preseason finale, we'll likely see Bailey Zappe and Trace McSorley split time under center. Perhaps rookie Malik Cunningham could get some time at QB as well.
Patriots-Titans is set for 8:15 p.m. ET Friday at Nissan Stadium.