The New England Patriots kicked off the Jerod Mayo era with a mostly boring first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night. Most of the starters from both teams didn’t play much, if at all, so you would think there may not be much to take away from the game.

Well, you’d be wrong about that. Let’s get into our takeaways from the Patriots’ 17-3 win.

Defense dominates: The Panthers aren’t a good team, and a lot of their starters didn’t play. It was still noticeable how dominant the Patriots were on the defensive side of the ball. They had five total sacks, and were able to get off the field regularly by allowing Carolina to convert just two of its 14 third-downs.

Matthew Judon didn’t take the field, and obviously neither did Christian Barmore, meaning that the unit was without two of its best players. It didn’t matter: the Patriots still made plenty of noticeable plays, and dominated from start to finish.

“They play with a lot of energy,” said head coach Jerod Mayo after the game. “We were, I would say as a whole, the most physical team on the field today. It starts up front, starts with the offensive line, it starts with the defensive line. I thought those guys played well.”

The only way this rebuilding Patriots team is going to have consistent success this year is if the defense carries them. If Thursday night is any indication, new coordinator DeMarcus Covington’s unit should be good again this year. The Panthers game doesn’t show us how good, but the early results were still encouraging to see.

Playing time questions: Preseason should be an opportunity to get a look at players in game situations. It feels like the Patriots wasted that opportunity by playing Bailey Zappe for too long: he got seven series, and was on the field for 36 of 65 offensive snaps — most among all the quarterbacks by a significant margin.

Not only did the team only give Drake Maye a single drive, which just isn’t enough time for a player seemingly in need of all the reps he can get, but you take away from what the receivers are able to do as well. Zappe has been playing with the third-string offense, and can’t do some of the things that Maye and even Joe Milton can do. Why not see what the kids can do? What’s the value of playing Zappe for so long?

“It was about opportunity,” Jerod Mayo explained after the game. “It was about opportunity. Zappe went out there — look, he’s won games in the NFL before. But then just putting Joe in at a time where we needed a spark and he provided that spark, which I thought was good.”

Zappe finished the game going 12-for-20 for 108 yards. Joe Milton went 4-for-6 for 54 and a touchdown, Drake Maye 2-for-3 for 19 yards, and starter Jacoby Brissett 0-for-3.

From the outside, that quarterback usage makes little sense. Even Brissett playing more than one series makes more sense than Zappe playing seven. The Patriots have been changing the offense and have a ton of new players, getting them to work together for a good amount of time would be understandable.

What the Patriots did on Thursday night, though, was curious from that perspective.

Coach Judon: Matthew Judon didn’t play any snaps, but his impact was still felt on Thursday night. He caught by the CBS cameras coaching up fellow edge defender Oshane Ximines after he was caught inside on an outside run. That’s the type of leadership that the Patriots want to see from Judon, and is the main reason why the team should want to keep him around.

The hope is that he and the team can finally come to an agreement on a new contract, and put everything else behind them.

Ximines O-shines: Oshane Ximines was an under-the-radar signing by the Patriots this offseason. He quickly looked like he could be a factor for the team in training camp, and played extremely well in his first game action on Thursday night. This needs to come with a caveat that he wasn’t playing against a full starting offensive line, but it was good to see him flash.

With Christian Barmore out for the foreseeable future, they could have an end like Keion White move inside. Ximines’ presence means they would still have plenty of depth on the outside, too, in that scenario.

Kayshon Boutte is up and down: The bottom of the wide receiver depth chart is totally up in the air, and one of the guys fighting for a spot is second-year man Kayshon Boutte. Boutte had some really nice plays in the first half, including a high-point grab on third down on a throw from Bailey Zappe.

On the downside, he also dropped a pair of third-down passes in the second half that would have been good for first downs. Both were relatively tough catches, but they’re catches that he needs to show that he can make consistently if he is going to make a push for the roster.

Joe Giles-Harris plays well: Linebacker is another position where there is a bit of a battle at the bottom of the depth chart. Joe Giles-Harris made a strong case to be one of the final guys making the roster versus Carolina. He was active with his hands, knocking down multiple passes, and looked like a sure tackler as well.

The Patriots’ off-the-ball depth is not set in stone beyond Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, and a still-injured Sione Takitaki, meaning that players like Giles-Harris might have a realistic shot at making the team — if they can perform the part in preseason. The 27-year-old definitely did on Thursday.

Caedan Wallace > Vederian Lowe: Third-round rookie Caedan Wallace had been working with the first-team offense at right tackle and then left tackle early in training camp, but he was replaced by Vederian Lowe last week. Lowe struggled during his first Patriots season in 2023 after joining the team via trade toward the end of preseason. The results looked very similar on Thursday night.

Wallace, on the other hand, looked solid when he was in there at left tackle. He actually seemed to struggle more when he went to right tackle, but it might be time to move him back to the first-team offense to solidify a left tackle position that remains a major question mark for the team.

David Wallis flashes: The Patriots didn’t have their normal punt returners playing on Thursday night, and undrafted rookie receiver David Wallis took advantage of that. He had a few nice returns, and looked to move smoothly out there. In total, he gained 36 yards on two punt returns and also ran a kickoff back 24 yards.

Is that enough to get him onto the active roster, especially at his competitive primary position of wide receiver (he saw no targets on 19 offensive snaps)? Probably not, but it could get him onto the practice squad with a chance to get called up at some point this year, or have a chance to push for a roster spot in 2025.

Bazooka Joe Milton: When the Patriots finally let one of their rookie quarterbacks loose for an extended period of time — Drake Maye got only one series — he did not disappoint. Sixth-rounder Joe Milton was electric with the ball in his hands, and appeared to make some really nice decisions as well: he wasn’t forcing throws, and wasn’t afraid to make some plays with his legs.

“I feel like the coaches, the team itself, have put a lot of work in to get us where we need to be, especially at a quarterback position,” said Milton after the game. “The OC, Coach [Alex Van Pelt], and T.C. McCartney and Ben McAdoo, they put a lot of stress on getting the details right. Your eyes don’t match your feet — and just being able to go where your feet tell you to go, and if it’s not there just being able to move on.

“So being able to trust the coaching, the guys around you and just trust the knowledge that they’re passing along. Being able to just be there and just take it all in.”

Going against the third-string Panthers defense definitely helped him out, but Milton kept his eyes downfield, even as he was moving in the pocket. It certainly looks like he’s done enough for the Patriots to slot him in as the third-string QB heading into next week’s game when the…

Eagles come to town: The Patriots are playing the Eagles at home next Thursday, but first, they will be in town for a joint practice on Tuesday. Based on how the team used those joint sessions under Jerod Mayo’s predecessor at head coach, Bill Belichick, this practice could be even more important than the game on Thursday; we should see the first teams playing against each other, something that might not happen in the actual exhibition contest.

If you are able to, try to get out to Gillette Stadium to watch the practice on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. It’s a great chance to see how the Patriots stack up against a very good team. The energy should be high, and it could get a good opportunity for guys to show that they belong on the roster this season.