The Giants had the ball first, so, New England's starting defense opened the game against New York's first-team offense.
Outside 'backer Josh Uche seemed to have a slow start to the summer, but came on strong this past week in practice. On the game's opening drive, the second-year defender kept his momentum going with a great third-down sack to force a Giants punt. The Giants looked dysfunctional offensively during much of the joint sessions and Uche had a lot to do with that. He picked up where he left off with that sack.
Later, in the second quarter, Uche pressured Jones deep in Patriots territory to force the QB into an incomplete pass.
After a week of joint practice sessions with their opponent, the New York Giants, this past week in Foxborough, rookie QB Mac Jones had an opportunity to face the front-line Giants defense for the majority of 11-on-11 periods. At the start of this game, though, Cam Newton came out for the first two Patriots drives.
Tough to blame Newton for the INT he threw on the second Patriots possession. Dropping back into his own end zone, Newton fired a pass up-field, putting the ball where his intended receiver, Jakobi Meyers, had to turn back toward the line of scrimmage to get both hands on it, but LB Blake Martinez made a tremendous play, with his back to the pass as it arrived, to strip Meyers of the ball before the two men fell to the turf.
Center David Andrews didn't suit up Sunday night after injuring his right foot earlier this past week in practice with the Giants. Versatile veteran Ted Karras stepped into Andrews' role Sunday night. Karras wound up seeing more playing time than perhaps he otherwise would have. Later in the half, he moved over to guard when the starting O-line was pulled from the game. Karras' night came to an end by halftime, though. He's almost assuredly got a spot on the final 53.
Jones entered the action in the early second quarter, taking over for Newton under center, but had a bit of difficulty finding his passing rhythm. A delay of game penalty, a dropped pass or two, some pressure by the Giants defense contributed to this stuttering start to his night, but he'd find a way to overcome it later on.
Kicker Nick Folk made his first game appearance of the preseason Sunday night. He'd been dealing with an unspecified injury that kept him out of action much of the past few weeks. However, Folk looked non the worse for the wear when he sailed a 41-yard field through the uprights to give New England an early 3-0 lead at the end of the Patriots' first drive.
New England next had a field goal attempt in the second quarter, but this time, the team sent out undrafted rookie Quinn Nordin for the 48-yard attempt, which he converted to double the lead to 6-0. Folk and Nordin have been getting alternating days to be the featured kicker in practice, and while the youngster has the stronger leg, the veteran is slightly more consistent. Nordin hasn't made it easy for Folk, though. He might not end up beating out Folk, but if the Patriots can keep him around on the practice squad, it might behoove them to do so to help Nordin continue to develop.
On the second Giants possession, the Patriots' defense faced several short-yardage situations that New York managed to convert for first downs. However, New England's run defense didn't give up much yardage on those plays – a testament to the beefy guys they've added this year to plug up the holes they frequently gave up there the past couple of years.
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Game Observations: Starters open, but backups close out preseason - Patriots.com
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