Brady sharp in preseason debut as Newton struggles

After a botched Panthers punt gave the Patriots the ball at midfield at the Carolina 49, Hogan caught a slant from Garoppolo for a 17-yard grab that helped put New England in business right away at the Panthers 32 yard line. With 10:02 to play in the second quarter, he dropped a flawless pass over Bené Benwikere for a 33-yard touchdown to Chris Hogan. I wish I could have played.

Once the regular season begins, Brady will be forbidden from participating in any team activities until the conclusion of New England’s Week 4 game against the Buffalo Bills.

Getting Garoppolo ready for his first career starts is the priority, but Brady still needs to get his reps to show his worth. The third-round pick completed all nine of his passes for 85 yards with a touchdown for a game-best 143.1 rating. But a federal appeals court reinstated the suspension this year, and Brady dropped his legal challenge rather than asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. The obvious difference between Garoppolo and Brady was on full display Friday, as Brady is clearly far more comfortable throwing beyond the sticks.

Yet on Friday night, in the third preseason game of the summer, Knighton wasn’t a player at all. He went 9/15, totaled just 57 yards and no touchdowns, with one pass nearly getting intercepted.

If the Patriots want to have a decent campaign, it will depend on the entire team’s functioning.

Romo missed 12 games previous year after twice fracturing his left collarbone, and he hasn’t played a full 16 games since 2012. “That’s the decision they made”. Benjamin does look a bit slower than he did pre-injury, but that can be credited to rust since he did not play a single game in 2015.

And if the Pats decide to move on from Brandon Bolden, entering his fifth year with the team, it’s possible that both Gaffney and Foster will make it. The Panthers receivers took their turns dropping catchable balls, tipped balls became interceptions, and there were numerous mistakes that stood out because they had been so polished previously.

Bill Belichick knows the data.

“We’ll have to, between practice and the game and some situations there, somewhat controllable in a game like a two-minute situation or things like that, you know, kind of come up (with a plan) one way or another”, Belichick said. We have confidence in all of those guys back there. “I think at the end you just have to do what you think is best for your team”.

Top of mind for me there are corners Jonathan Jones and Cre’Von LeBlanc, linebacker Elandon Roberts, wide receiver DeAndre Carter, defensive lineman Woodrow Hamilton and running back D.J. Foster who appear to be right on the roster bubble but are impressive. There hasn’t been significant concern about Williams, who tends to play through minor injuries, but this chance is important to him.

Brady is making the trip to Carolina with the team, according to ESPN and multiple reports. He’s been very valuable for us in the kicking game, obviously with some size. I’m not looking for an explanation or anything.