The New England Patriots played their second preseason game of the summer on Thursday night, hosting the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. This one went a little more like Patriots fans wanted, as rookie quarterback Drake Maye got a good amount of playing time, and showed some promise.

Let’s get into the takeaways from New England’s 14-13 loss.

The pass rush continues to impress…: The Patriots were able to get after the passer on Thursday night, and it was a bunch of guys doing it. They pushed the pocket, and made the Eagles’ quarterbacks awfully uncomfortable throughout the night. It remains to be seen if they can consistently have a dominant pass rush, but it was a good night for those guys on Thursday.

Keion White, Josh Uche, and Oshane Ximines all got some good pressure on the quarterback. With Matthew Judon traded to the Atlanta Falcons on the eve of the game, those players in particular will need to continue to do stand out if the Patriots want to have an above-average pass rush this season.

…and so does the pass defense: The Eagles had a hard time running the ball all night, getting stuffed on 4th-and-1 on three separate occasions. Time will tell whether they will be as good as they were last season without Matthew Judon and possibly Christian Barmore as well, but it looks like the unit ass a whole is still going to be solid against the run.

Depth players such as Raekwon McMillan and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. flashed in the run game on Thursday, for example. All in all, there was a lot to feel good about this side of the ball.

“We had a great week defensively,” said Deatrich Wise Jr. “We knew what we wanted to do going into the week, cleaning up some of the small details we saw last game, and being very dominant in practice, and we did both of those. We did a great job managing our coverages together, stopping a lot of runs, forcing them to pass, and we did a good job blocking their passes and keeping them to short yardage plays.”

Raekwon McMillan should be on this roster: The Patriots have kept McMillan on the roster for multiple years, even though he missed two of his three seasons since first joining the club. Now, that decision seems to be paying off. The former second-round draft pick was a force on Thursday night, making plays on defense and special teams. He looks to be close to a lock to make the roster as a backup linebacker, especially considering a) the uncertain status of fellow LB Sione Takitaki, and b) his ability to play both off the line and on the edge.

Drake Maye flashes in extended action: The Patriots took a lot of heat for not playing the third overall pick in this year’s draft more in the first preseason game, and they seemed to have listened to the discussion. Drake Maye got close to two full quarters of action, and he took advantage of it.

While his stat-line did not stand out — 6-of-11 for 47 yards — he also scored a rushing touchdown, and saw maybe his best throw of the night not get caught; Javon Baker was unable to reel the deep ball in even though it hit him in the hands. It wasn’t a perfect outing for the kid, but the talent is obvious, and Patriots fans should be excited.

“I had some good things, had some bad plays: dropped snaps — inexcusable from me,” Maye said after the game. “Other than that, sometimes I felt I was scrambling when I could sit in there, hang on, and try to make a throw. So, there are definitely a lot of things to learn from. It was good to get out there and get some tape to learn from.”

Athleticism at QB shows up: The Patriots haven’t had a quarterback that could throw the ball well and be a threat in the running game in a long time; Cam Newton had flashes in 2019 but before that you might have to go back to Steve Grogan in the late 70s and 80s.

Drake Maye, of course, had the rushing touchdown on an option play but he also was able to extend a bunch of plays as well due to his ability to maneuver and, if need be, break the pocket. That puts a lot of strain on a defense, and could become a factor for a team that doesn’t seem to have a great offensive line.

Javon Baker remains inconsistent: We’ve seen some great flashes from Javon Baker in camp, but he had two costly drops on Thursday night. The first one was in some traffic, and he was probably going to be hit; you could see that he was bracing for a collision, and that threw off his concentration causing him to drop the ball.

The other drop was the aforementioned deep ball by Drake Maye. Those are the types of plays that made Baker a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. He has the ability to get open and make some sensational catches, but the consistency has been lacking so far. He needs to clean that up if he’s going to make an impact this season, something head coach Jerod Mayo also pointed out.

“I think it’s a combination of concentration, figuring out what he has to do,” Mayo said during his post-game press conference. “Look, he has good hands. He had good hands in college. He has good hands now. He just has to show that in the game.”

Offensive line movement: On Drake Maye’s touchdown drive, the Patriots shook up their offensive line a bit. They kept the left side the same, with Vederian Lowe and Sidy Sow, but put Nick Leverett at center, and then two rookies on the right side in guard Layden Robinson and tackle Caedan Wallace. The group looked pretty solid on that drive as a whole, while both of the rookies played well, too.

There is a chance that we see some movement in the starting unit after the performance by the two rookies, as well as the performances by the two starting tackles: neither Lowe nor Chukwuma Okorafor seem to have their current spots atop the depth chart locked up.

David Wallis keeps making plays: Undrafted rookie David Wallis had some flashes in the return game last week, and he did it again this week. Not only did he have another long return — this one a 53-yard runback on a kickoff — he also added a pair of receptions for 16 total yards. I don’t think that he’s going to be on the roster, but he should make it to the practice squad and maybe make an impact next season or as a game day elevation candidate.

Kayshon Boutte’s vision might be coming true: Kayshon Boutte said this week that he has no doubt that he would be making the Patriots’ 53-man roster, and he certainly played like it on Thursday night. He had a sensational one-handed catch near the sideline, and then had a pair of receptions later on in the game. In total, he caught a team-high three passes for 23 yards.

He’s still very much on the bubble, but he is the only receiver that is consistently making plays in the passing game during New England’s first two preseason games. If he can keep his momentum going, it’s tough to imagine a world where he is not on this roster this fall.

Joey Slye has the upper hand: Chad Ryland and Joe Slye have been battling for the kicker spot throughout the summer. For a while, it seemed like Ryland might have the upper hand, but it appears the situation has changed.

Slye went 2-for-2 on field goals on Thursday, hitting kicks from 51 and 45 yards out. There is still time for this to play out more, but it seems like it’s trending towards Slye getting this job over the incumbent.

The Patriots have one more preseason game against the Washington Commanders next Sunday, and so there is a little more time for bubble guys to make the roster, and for players to jockey for positions anywhere between the starting lineup and the practice squad. As for the kickers, whoever loses out on the roster could very well end up on the developmental roster when all is said and done.