Five biggest questions for the Patriots entering the 2019 season
Summer vacation is done for the Patriots, who reconvene at Gillette Stadium this week for the beginning of training camp.
Per usual, the Pats enter August as the favorites in the AFC. They’re loaded on defense. They’re poised to have a dominant rushing attack, as we saw in last season’s playoffs. They’re easily the bestcoached team in the league.
But there is some uncertainty in Foxboro.
Here are the five most important questions as the Patriots enter Year 20 of the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady dynasty:
Any receiver ready to step up?
The Pats know what they have in Julian Edelman, who is expected to miss time in camp because of a thumb injury.
They don’t know much else about this year’s collection of pass catchers. Group/Boston Herald) The Patriots liked N’Keal
Harry enough to take him in the first round of the draft. Harry possesses ideal size and physicality as a boundary receiver. He might struggle to create separation against NFL corners, though.
Josh Gordon was terrific last season, averaging 18 yards per reception (and cruising past secondaries after the catch), but his status with the league is unresolved. He remains indefinitely suspended.
Then there’s Phillip Dorsett, who has flashed at times but not consistently; Demaryius Thomas, who begins camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he rehabs from an Achilles year; Maurice Harris, an unexpected star of spring practices; Dontrelle Inman, a proven secondary receiver; and youngsters such as Braxton Berrios, Ryan Davis and Jakobi Meyers.
Not all these players are going to pan out. But the Patriots desperately need at least two of them to emerge.
What’s happening at left tackle?
Last season’s stop-gap solution worked out as well as anyone could have imagined.
Seeking to replace Nate Solder, the Patriots traded a third-round pick for Trent Brown and a fifth-round pick (which the team used to select promising linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley). Brown established himself as a high-level starter and played a crucial role for an offensive line that developed into one of the league’s premier units.
Now the Pats must do it again, and there’s no one quite like Brown on the roster this time.
Second-year pro Isaiah Wynn, recovering from an Achilles tear that ended his rookie season before it started, is assumed to be the left tackle if healthy. He’s not on PUP, so that’s a promising sign, but there’s a difference between avoiding the PUP list and being ready to start as Brady’s blind-side protector. We’ll see what Wynn shows in the early stages of camp.
If he’s not ready to go, the Patriots seem to be preparing left guard Joe Thuney for the role. Thuney received the left tackle reps throughout the spring.
Next level for the defense?
By now, you must be familiar with the pattern.
September: Patriots defense gets worked by subpar quarterback, gets shredded in print and on sports radio.
October: OK, it’s looking a little better.
November: The signature wins are piling up.
December: The Pats beat the Jets and Bills by a combined 102-6 and clinch a first-round bye.
The defense generally improves during the season, but this year it should be in position to avoid the slow start. From a personnel standpoint, this is as strong a unit as the Patriots have had in years. They’re loaded in the secondary and well-stocked at linebacker. Losing Trey Flowers up front hurts, but Michael Bennett is an adequate short-term replacement.