What to Watch as the Patriots’ 2026 Preseason Officially Kicks Off

The Patriots have spent the last couple of weeks practicing against themselves. On Tuesday, they finally got to see the Indianapolis Colts in a joint practice. Thursday night, the two teams will face off for real — sort of — in the first exhibition game of the year for both teams.

The Patriots shocked everybody by making it all the way to the Super Bowl in Mike Vrabel’s first year as head coach and Drake Maye’s first full season as the starting quarterback. Fair or not, anything short of a return trip to the Super Bowl might now be viewed as a failure.

When you add in a solid offseason of draft picks and free-agent signings, expectations are sky-high. New England is no longer in rebuild mode.

This is also a situation many members of the Patriots’ young core are not accustomed to. They are now the hunted instead of the hunters, and their 2026 schedule will be considerably more difficult than last year’s.

Here are some of my observations from camp — and what I’ll be watching as the preseason game schedule gets underway.

Wide Receivers

It seems like we hear this every year, but once again the Patriots supposedly have some difficult roster decisions to make at wide receiver.

I have gotten tired of hearing it in years past, only to hear — once the season starts — how bad the Patriots’ receivers are.

You know what I’m talking about.

Remember 2024, when the Patriots kept seven wide receivers on their final roster after cuts? That was the year when everyone was saying it was too early to give up on high draft picks like Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. The Patriots had signed K.J. Osborn, so he had to be on the team. And Jalen Reagor was a former first-round pick — drafted one spot ahead of Justin Jefferson in 2020 — who had shown flashes late in the previous season of finally fulfilling some of that promise.

Certainly, the Patriots couldn’t just cut him.

In 2025, eight wide receivers made the initial roster, including Baker and Kendrick Bourne.

In years past, people debated whether wide receivers like Kristian Wilkerson, Tre Nixon, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and John Jiles deserved a shot at making the roster.

Those were considered the “tough” decisions.

But this year is different.

This year, the buzz and debate are warranted.

The Patriots signed Romeo Doubs to be their No. 1 receiver before landing one of the best receivers in the NFL in recent years — A.J. Brown. Those two additions pushed everyone else down a couple of pegs to where they probably belong.

Last year, Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas might have been considered New England’s WR1 and WR2. In reality, they are better suited to be the third and fourth receivers on a good team.

That is where they now sit on this roster.

Mack “Warrior” Hollins remains the consistent, solid veteran presence every good team needs.

Kyle Williams was a third-round draft pick in Mike Vrabel’s first year with the Patriots. That matters. Vrabel has spoken highly of Williams this past week despite Williams not exactly standing out this summer. Vrabel has essentially put some of that responsibility on the coaching staff, saying they need to do a better job of utilizing Williams’ speed and skill set.

Vrabel went even further, saying Williams “is going to be a large part of what we’re going to do.”

That sure sounds like a roster lock.

And then we have the darling of last year’s camp — undrafted free agent Efton Chism III.

Chism has capitalized on virtually every opportunity he has been given over the past two summers. At this point, he has proven he belongs on an NFL roster.

For those of you counting at home, that is seven wide receivers who deserve to be on an active roster.

Most NFL teams carry five or six wide receivers. Last year, only four teams — Atlanta, Carolina, Houston and Tampa Bay — carried seven after camp. New England and Kansas City kept eight.

So what does that mean?

The Patriots aren’t simply going to release one of those seven receivers. They all have value.

Ignoring draft position, I would consider Kyle Williams the weakest link here. Chism has simply made more plays when given opportunities. But Vrabel's words make it sound like they aren't willing to give up on Williams yet.

The consensus, however, seems to be that Boutte will get traded.

And that would be unfortunate.

Boutte has become one of the better reclamation-project stories on this roster. He — and his young son — have also stood out among Patriots players signing autographs for fans after practice. It certainly appears he has grown comfortable in New England.

As much as I would like to see him remain part of a receiving corps led by Brown and Doubs, I doubt it is going to happen.

My guess is Boutte gets traded — perhaps to Las Vegas, Indianapolis, San Francisco or Atlanta — and the other six stick.

In previous years, undrafted free agents like Cameron Dorner, Nick DeGennaro and Kyle Dixon might have generated legitimate roster buzz.

This year, they have no shot.

Still, don’t be surprised if one or more of them have a big preseason game, especially considering how impressive Tommy DeVito has looked throwing the football this summer.

Gabe Jacas

Man, am I excited to see Gabe Jacas play in an actual game.

The Patriots traded up in the second round to select Jacas 55th overall in the 2026 draft. Jacas was essentially a no-show until first stepping onto the practice field on August 1 — just 11 days ago.

Since then, Jacas has flashed the motor and athleticism that had everyone buzzing after he was drafted.

Put me at the top of that list.

I gave Jacas the highest grade of any Patriots draft pick this year.

New England’s biggest weakness is its pass rush. I don’t think there is much debate about that. The Patriots are particularly thin at edge.

Harold Landry III has barely been on the field since injuring his right knee in Week 6 of the 2025 season. He underwent knee surgery after the season and has not practiced once with the team this summer. He remains on the PUP list.

That leaves Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder as New England’s primary healthy edge rushers.

Ponder has been particularly impressive in camp, building off a pleasantly surprising rookie season as an undrafted free agent in 2025.

The Patriots need Jacas to stay healthy and develop into a legitimate outside threat, especially with Christian Barmore and Milton Williams capable of providing pressure up the middle.

The other edge player I’ll be watching closely is Bradyn Swinson.

Swinson was my Jacas last year. He received my highest grade among New England’s 2025 draft picks, and I thought the Patriots got a steal when they selected him in the fifth round.

Swinson arrived in better shape this year after losing roughly 15 pounds and getting down to around 255. He flashed early in camp, but Ponder has clearly passed him on the depth chart.

If one of the Patriots’ top three edge players gets injured, Swinson needs to prove he can step up.

Eli Raridon

The other thing the Patriots desperately need is depth at tight end.

New England signed free agent Julian Hill to a three-year, $15 million contract to back up veteran Hunter Henry. The Patriots then selected Eli Raridon in the third round.

The hope was that Raridon could spend his rookie season adding strength, developing as a blocker and essentially using 2026 as something of a redshirt year.

No such luck.

Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury in the spring. The expectation was that Vrabel and Eliot Wolf would bring in a veteran tight end before training camp really got going.

They didn’t.

Instead, they wanted to see what they had in Raridon first.

And they have to be pleased with what they’ve seen.

Having been in Foxboro to watch a handful of practices in person, I came away pleasantly surprised by how many reps the rookie has received with the first-team offense and Drake Maye.

Even more encouraging, Maye already appears to trust him.

Raridon comes from a Notre Dame program with a well-earned reputation for producing NFL tight ends — a lineage that includes Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert, Cole Kmet and Michael Mayer.

At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, Raridon reminds me a lot of former Patriot Mike Gesicki. Both present long, athletic receiving targets, but the Patriots hope Raridon develops into a more complete tight end than Gesicki ever was.

So far, it’s looking good.

Also keep an eye on undrafted rookie tight end Tanner Arkin. Arkin is another big reason the Patriots have not brought in a veteran tight end. At 6-foot-4 and 262 pounds, he profiles more as a blocking tight end, but he also caught six touchdowns during his college career. His emergence — along with the signing of fullback Reggie Gilliam — has most likely spelled the end for Jack Westover.

Christian Gonzalez

Finally, we get to the Christian Gonzalez contract situation.

For most of camp, everything appeared to be going about as smoothly as could reasonably be expected considering the dispute.

Gonzalez participated fully in practices — until Tuesday’s joint session with the Colts.

Vrabel said Gonzalez was held out because he tweaked an ankle at the end of Monday’s practice. Some reporters, including Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal, noted that Gonzalez appeared to be limping slightly after landing awkwardly while trying to defend a goal-line fade to Romeo Doubs.

But Gonzalez did not require medical attention and did not appear to be noticeably limping when he left the field.

So believe what you will.

I believe his absence was 90 percent contract-related and 10 percent injury-related.

The contract dispute itself hasn’t worried me all that much. Gonzalez is still under team control, and a true holdout would come with significant financial consequences.

The bigger question is this: If he doesn’t get the contract he wants, what will his attitude be on and off the field?

In the end, I think Gonzo will have a new contract before the regular season begins.

He shares representation with Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Witherspoon was the first cornerback selected in the same 2023 draft as Gonzalez, and he is essentially in the same situation — entering extension territory and looking to reset the cornerback market.

My guess is Gonzalez is waiting to see what Witherspoon gets first.

Then Gonzalez can ask for one dollar more.

Having both elite young corners represented by the same side only complicates matters further.

But ultimately, I expect the Patriots to pay him.

Because unlike some of the difficult roster decisions we hear about every August, this one really shouldn’t be difficult at all.