The New England Patriots welcome the New Orleans Saints in Foxboro for two days of joint practices ahead of their preseason opener this week.
Many believe that joint practice sessions give NFL teams a better understanding of their team than preseason games, so these practices have an extreme importance.
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The Patriots will obviously look to get Jimmy Garoppolo some looks against a “live” defense as he prepares to take the helm of the Patriots’ offense at the start of the regular season. There are other areas to watch closely this against live action, but perhaps none are more intriguing than the offensive line going against the defensive line of the Saints.
The Patriots offensive line has battled through some injuries, as most teams have, during training camp.
Sebastian Vollmer has yet to take the field, Jonathan Cooper was carted off the field during practice, Bryan Stork has struggled with reported concussion problems, and Tre’ Jackson just returned after being activated from the PUP list.
They will face a young, aggressive defensive line in New Orleans in their first test as a reformed unit under the direction of Dante Scarnecchia.
As an offensive line unit, the Patriots have seen many variations. According to Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal, New England had six different players working at snapping the ball – Bryan Stork, David Andrew, Joe Thuney, Josh Kline, Ted Karras and Kyler Kerbyson.
This group combined with Shaq Mason and Tre’ Jackson are likely to fill the interior line and face off against Nick Fairley and rookies Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata on the interior. Both Fairley and Rankins were high draft picks who are known for their blend of size, strength and quickness off the snap, while Onyemata is a bit more of an unknown who was a good interior pass rusher in Canada.
This presents a good challenge for a unit that is missing a potential starter in Cooper and could be without Stork as he continues to return from injury. The group has limited experience together and could face communication problems against the speedy rushers, especially while working with two quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Garoppolo.
There will be a lot of eyes on the right tackle spot, as well. With Vollmer still not on the field, the task of blocking Cameron Jordan falls on Marcus Cannon and La’Adrian Waddle.
Even though the Saints do not have their full complement of pass rushers, seeing which of the two tackles can perform against a premier player such as Jordan will go a long way in determining who should be in line to get a majority of Vollmer’s snaps, should he remain out. According to multiple media reports, Waddle has been impressive in training camp, and this has led some to speculate that he could unseat Cannon.
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Even with Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Rob Gronkowski, Brandin Cooks and others on the field this week for joint practices, the most intriguing matchup to watch is going to be the Patriots offensive line against the Saints defensive line.