Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live-viewing the Patriots’ Week 2 contest.
OLBs Elijah Ponder & Gabe Jacas: The Patriots young edge duo each played 36 snaps on Sunday as they were relied upon following the injury to Dre’Mont Jones. Success followed. Ponder ended the day with a sack and additional QB hit to go along with three TFLs and a scoop-and-score touchdown to seal Sunday’s victory. Jacas continued to build upon his early season momentum with a pair of pressures and a QB hit on a bootleg, while also recording his first career interception.
New England’s four-man front saw their pressure production improve this week, and the young pass rushers were a key part to that success.
CB Christian Gonzalez: New England’s top cornerback embraces matching up against other team’s top receivers. He did that with success in Week 2, as he limited DK Metcalf to three catches for 11 yards across 34 matchups — Gonzalez’s most matchups against a single receiver in a game in his career.
Two of those receptions came behind the line of scrimmage, as it was another dominant effort from Gonzalez.
DT Christian Barmore: The Patriots defensive tackle continued his strong start to the season by once again making an impact as a pass rusher. Shortly after drawing a hold, Barmore kickstarted the play of the day by beating right guard Spencer Anderson 1-on-1 with a hump move before swiping the ball loose from Aaron Rodgers.
RB TreVeyon Henderson: After missing last week with an ankle injury, Henderson made his season debut on Sunday and immediately made his impact felt. The speedster took his third carry of the season 39 yards up the middle — behind strong blocking across all three levels — to open the scoring. In total, the second-year back went on to lead the team with 16 carries for 78 yards on the ground.
“We have to get healthy and figure out who’s available next week for a huge challenge,” Vrabel said. “That’s what we have to be able to do is create those opportunities for the next guy in and be able to coach everybody the same.”
QB Drake Maye: The offense remains a work in process early in the year as Maye noted the unit is “not where we want to be” following the victory. In a positive department, Maye generated some explosive plays in the passing attack such as a 63-yard completion to Romeo Doubs on a “dash” pass. But, the turnovers and negative plays continued to keep the unit out of the end zone. That was highlighted by Maye throwing another downfield interception when he failed to localize a dropping linebacker.