And with that, the preseason is in the books. Thank Goodness.

I hope you all enjoy this upcoming weekend; it’s the unofficial end of summer, and it will be the last Sunday for quite some time without any meaningful NFL games on. So, get outside and do something fun.

Going to keep these relatively short today, as the focus over the coming days is going to be roster cuts and who ends up making the team. I also imagine that we’re all kind of over the preseason at this point and just want to get to the action, so I’m going to assume you feel the same way about preseason Fan Notes. So, I won’t waste too much of your time here today.

1. Take from these last few games what you want. If you think this team is screwed, then you do. If you’re optimistic about this youth infusion, then give it hell. All I know for certain is that, based on last night, I have a new early frontrunner for New England Patriots MVP, and that’s whichever equipment manager is charged with making sure that the O-line’s shoes always stay on and remain tied, because if even one starter misses a single down to readjust their cleats, there’s going to be a quarterback-sized hole in the ground where Jacoby Brissett once stood.

2. I counted four illegal formation penalties along the offensive line last night, but I might have missed a few. And illegal formation is more or less a penalty for standing in the wrong spot pre-snap. You get it once in a while when a receiver goes in motion and fails to line up in along the line, or sometimes a tight end will be off in his positioning, but to see it four times along the O-line where you’re almost always lining up right in the same place is just wild.

3. I also counted three times when linemen and backs/receivers bumped into each other in what was either miscommunication or just flat-out nincompoopery. Perhaps none worse than the first sack of the game, when Sidy Sow bumped into Layden Robinson on a pull before colliding with JaMycal Hasty in what would have been an award-winning Night at The Roxbury impression under different circumstances. What we got instead was a hobbled Brissett and questions as to whether the conspiracy theory that Mayo is only starting Jacoby because he needs Drake Maye to survive the year might actually have some legs.

4. As someone who remains very staunchly in the “Jacoby Brissett should start Week 1” camp, I’m fully willing to acknowledge that there’s absolutely nothing I’ve seen from him that leads me to believe he won the job over Maye. Drake Maye has looked more decisive and more accurate. He has kept drives going with his legs and generated points. There have certainly been some bad throws and misreads, but nothing you wouldn’t expect from a rookie. Maye has more upside and has simply looked like the better player out there.

5. That said, give me Brissett to start the season. September is going to be a rough month for this team, and in-season games are a completely different beast than preseason ones. I’d originally said get Maye out there in November once any realistic chance of making the playoffs is off the table, but I’m now willing to move that starting date up to mid-October.

6. A few other meaningless observations:

• KJ Osborne lined up with the starters for the third straight week, and he finally registered not only his first catches as a Patriot, but his first targets. Take from that what you want.
• If I had to bet right now, I’d say the running back room will consist of Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, Kevin Harris, and JaMycal Hasty, with Terrell Jennings getting a few practice squad call-ups this season. I was rooting for Jennings to sneak onto the current roster, but I just don’t think he’s done enough.
• I also think that Joe Milton hasn’t done enough to secure a roster spot and I can see the Patriots only keeping two QBs this season (maybe they sign a veteran or something in a few weeks). But I also think that Milton has done more than enough to not clear waivers, so I’m not overly confident in seeing him on the practice squad. So what the front office does with him is going to be really interesting.
• David Wallis has earned a spot, in my opinion, if for no other reason than DeMario Douglas should never be back there returning punts. Kick returner is a valuable position again with the new rules, so I think it’s worth it.
• Plus, the receiver room is weak. Maybe Wallis can prove himself worthwhile in certain packages. Plus, it keeps the time-honored Patriots tradition of finding short white shifty guys that catch passes and giving them a chance.
• I never got my Joe Milton-to-Tyquan Thornton go route. It’s all I really wanted to see this whole month. I did get a Milton-to-Jalen Reagor go route that was picked but called back for holding, but it just isn’t the same.
• If the Patriots are going to be competitive at all this season, the defense is going to have to play out of its mind at virtually every level. I’d put this unit up against any offense in the NFL and be confident in their abilities, even sans Mathew Judon. The biggest question mark for me in the coming days is what the team decides to do with their secondary depth.

This has to be a wildly stressful time for the NFL players who aren’t roster locks, which has to be close to a third of the league. Getting this close to living your dream only to be a cut-day casualty has to be a brutal experience. So, best of luck to these guys, and to the players we’ll never see wearing a Patriots uniform again, thanks for your service. Hope you find yourselves a spot out there somewhere.