Between a pair of joint practices and consecutive preseason road games at Detroit and Tennessee, the Patriots crammed plenty of competitive training camp football into the past two weeks.
But with Saturday night’s 22-17 win over the Titans now in the books, the team has a short window to rest up and prepare their first home preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night (7:30) at Gillette Stadium.
“The first thing is to give the players an opportunity to rest and recover from the hard and good week we had in Tennessee,” coach Bill Belichick said Sunday morning.
“We played a lot of football down there in Wednesday and Thursday’s practices and last night in the game, kind of in spurts. Offensively we ran a lot of plays in the second half (37) and defensively we were on the field for a lot of plays (40) in the first half.
“I think those more intensive stretches challenged us in some physical ways and mentally in terms of communication and fundamental execution when were a little fatigued.”
Belichick said the first order of business before the players return on Monday is to breakdown the Titans film, isolate the areas where breakdowns occurred and correct them before the Panthers hit town. Carolina is coming off a 27-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Friday night.
“We’ll make some corrections and adjustments and clean up some things that happened and then move on to preparations in the short week we have for Carolina,” said Belichick.
The Patriots will face a similar situation in the regular season against two NFC East opponents. New England plays at Washington on Sunday, Oct. 6, and then hosts the New York Giants the following Thursday night.
“That Monday to Thursday window is the same one we will have later in the season,” said Belichick. “That will give us a good opportunity to kind of – players, coaches, everybody – work in a short week schedule and try to prioritize and get the things done that we need to do a couple of months from now.”
WYNN AND NOW
Belichick seemed satisfied with the small sample work provided by offensive left tackle Isaiah Wynn with the first unit. Wynn worked three series protecting quarterback Brian Hoyer’s blindside, primarily against Titans’ edge rusher Amani Bledsoe.
Wynn was the Patriots first pick (23rd overall) out of Georgia last year but he never played a regular season down his rookie season. Wynn suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the preseason and was placed on injured reserve.
“It was good to get Isaiah out there,” said Belichick. “He played around 15 plays, somewhere in that neighborhood and we will build on that and see where we are next week with Carolina game.”
MUNSON STEPS UP
With starters Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy off the grid in Tennessee, inside linebacker Calvin Munson made use of his opportunity to escape the Patriots’ practice squad, where he spent most of the 2018 season.
Munson started the game alongside Ja’Whaun Bentley and led the Patriots with five solo tackles and three assists. Munson joined the Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2017 and appeared in 14 games with five starts and recorded 55 tackles.
“Calvin’s got some experience and he’s a smart player, instinctive player and he had some production,” said Belichick.
INMAN RELEASED
The Patriots released veteran receiver Dontrelle Inman to make room on the roster for Josh Gordon, who was conditionally reinstated by the NFL.
Inman never caught on in New England and stood little chance to make the team. The journeyman receiver finished the 2018 season as the Colts’ No. 2 wideout, amassing 17 receptions on 19 targets for 231 yards and three touchdowns over his final four games.
The 30-year-old Inman performed well in the first preseason game at the Lions. He got the start in Saturday’s preseason win over the Titans and caught one pass for 17 yards.
