On Thursday I went to the Patriots vs Jaguars pre season game and while I normally write about basketball, we're switching up the pace in this week's article. With this article, I'm picking out a couple of studs and duds from the offense and defense for the Pats. Granted I know this was the first pre season game so I shouldn't get too excited or bummed with certain players, but it's pre season, this is what everyone does. With all that being said, let's get to it!

Offense:

Jimmy Garoppolo: 22/28, 235 yards and 2 TDs.

When watching the first half, Jimmy looked a little rusty to me. The first drive was a rough one going 3 and out with it ending in Garoppolo getting sacked for a loss of 7 yards. The next drive ended in a field goal killing time which was great, however, it ended in another sack of Jimmy just when the team was starting to gain momentum. However, it was toward the middle of the second quarter when Jimmy started to pick it up in my opinion. After the Jaguars have scored making it 10-3, the Pats went on an 11 play 52-yard drive lasting 5:18. While they missed a field goal, Jimmy had a few nice plays in there. He completed a nice pass in the middle to Brandon Bolden for a 20 yard gain. Later on, he completed a pass to Jacob Hollister for 16 yards. Right before the end of the first half, Jimmy developed a nice connection with rookie Austin Carr on this drive putting up 3 catches for 27 yards including a touchdown on a nice scramble by Jimmy. Then again to start the third quarter, Garoppolo marched the team down the field to score on an efficient 7 play for 74 yards in 3:40. As the game went on, Garoppolo seemed to become more and more comfortable and overall put up a nice solid game making the right plays.

Jacob Hollister: 7 catches, 116 yards

With depth at tight end, Hollister hasn't had much of a chance to really shine with Gronkowski and Allen in front of him but he was able to put on a nice show that night. Including a nice hurdle over a Jaguars defender which definitely opened some eyes. The kid is also really tough too taking a couple hits to the head but popping right up loving every moment of it. It felt like last night there wasn't a play where you'd hear "pass completed to Jacob Hollister for ____ yards". Being all over the place on offense and making plays like he did yesterday, Hollister has a chance to make a name for himself and maybe stick with this team as a third string tight end. In case you're not familiar with the player, take a look at his highlight clip from college:

Defense:

Cyrus Jones: 2 tackles

Jones is a project for this team, plain and simple. When the team drafted him, there were high hopes for this kid and I bought into the hype too but he had an awful rookie season. Between getting destroyed on coverage or not being able to return kicks, I thought it was just rookie season jitters but after yesterday, things haven't changed. Jaguars receiver Keelan Cole absolutely burned him in coverage going for a 97-yard touchdown pass along with a 47-yard touchdown pass to Dede Westbrook. Jones just looked flat out awful yesterday it was painful watching him and he was making mistakes you just cannot do. The fact Jones let up the two biggest scores of the game shows he still has ways to go. Hopefully, he can figure things out because if Jones cannot during the pre season, look for Jones to be in a different uniform this coming season.

Run Defense: 207 yards and 2 touchdowns allowed

It seemed like whenever Jacksonville ran the ball yesterday, they were going to go for a big gain. I thought at first it was because of rust but the rust lasted the entire game and it was just painful to watch. One play was a 79-yard touchdown run by Corey Grant and when you watch the play it just seems like the defense was completely unprepared and caught off guard. Luckily this is the pre season and there is room for improvement, but unfortunately, this was not just one player, it was a whole group. We'll have to wait and see how they respond next game.

The next game is Saturday, August 19 against the Houston Texans and this is pre season, this will be another chance for players and personnel to improve on what went wrong from game one. Overall, this team looked alright, a little shaky to start but somewhat strong in the end and I am excited to see what happens with them in game