The preseason is |A| over and the Patriots |B| future looks bright.

Rookie |C| quarterback Drake Maye had |D| some exciting moments in |E| the Patriots preseason finale |F| on Sunday night. The |G| No. 3 overall pick |H| showed off his athleticism |J| and arm strength against |K| the Washington Commanders.

It |L| was an exciting showcase |M| of what might be |O| in New England in |P| the coming seasons. Of |Q| course, we still dont |R| know if Maye will |S| start or play this |U| season.

Sunday nights preseason |V| finale also saw projected |Y| starter Jacoby Brissett suffer |Z| a right shoulder injury |A| due to a poor |B| play from the offensive |C| line.

The Patriots o-line |D| had a horrible first |E| half that saw a |F| laundry list of mistakes. |G| These errors led to |H| Brissetts injury and even |J| a negated Maye touchdown. |K| The Patriots can only |L| hope that Brissetts injury |M| isnt serious and that |O| the teams offensive line |P| will improve this fall.

|Q| dir="ltr">Heres a look at |R| whos trending up and |S| whos trending down with |U| the regular season less |V| than two weeks away:

|Y| dir="ltr">Trending Up

Drake Maye

|Z| dir="ltr">Maye took over for |A| Brissett in the Patriots |B| second drive and it |C| wasnt long before he |D| showed off.

After a |E| bad snap put the |F| Patriots in a hole, |G| Maye took off and |H| ran for 17 yards |J| on third-and-14. Two plays |K| later, he hit rookie |L| receiver JaLynn Polk for |M| a 29-yard gain. Next |O| up, on third-and-8, Maye |P| connected with DeMario Pop |Q| Douglas for a 16-yard |R| completion.

Two plays later, |S| the rookie quarterback hit |U| Kevin Harris and the |V| running back made multiple |Y| defensive players miss en |Z| route to an 18-yard |A| touchdown with 40 seconds |B| left in the first |C| quarter.

After the score, |D| former Patriots receiver and |E| NFL Hall of Famer |F| Randy Moss tweeted, “Youngin |G| looking good, huh?”

In |H| that first drive, Maye |J| completed 5-of-6 passes for |K| 71 yards with the |L| touchdown.

In his second |M| drive, Maye lost his |O| left shoe on the |P| first snap when left |Q| guard Sidy Sow stepped |R| on his foot. However, |S| the young quarterback still |U| connected with running back |V| JaMychal Hasty for a |Y| 14-yard gain.

That drive |Z| went nowhere as the |A| offense dealt with a |B| false start, a blown-up |C| screen pass, and an |D| illegal formation penalty (on |E| a third-down play that |F| went for zero yards).

|G| dir="ltr">Mayes next two drives |H| also resulted in punts |J| as the Patriots offensive |K| line struggled mightily. The |L| group was whistled for |M| four penalties in those |O| two series.

In the |P| next series, Maye had |Q| multiple nice throws, but |R| not all counted due |S| to penalties. He hit |U| Javon Baker for a |V| 16-yard gain and then |Y| connected with Polk for |Z| a 13-yard pass play, |A| which was negated due |B| to a holding call. |C| Two plays later, Maye |D| hit K.J. Osborn for |E| a 48-yard touchdown pass. |F| However, that was negated |G| due to an illegal |H| formation penalty by Chuks |J| Okorafor.

Despite the offensive |K| line blunders, the rookie |L| quarterback looked composed. Maye |M| completed 13/20 passes for |O| 126 yards and a |P| touchdown.

Backup running backs

|Q| dir="ltr">The Patriots didnt play |R| Rhamondre Stevenson on Sunday, |S| but the running back |U| group delivered an encouraging |V| performance.

Antonio Gibson started |Y| the game and played |Z| one series. He picked |A| up a first down |B| with a 13-yard catch |C| and run. He also |D| ran the ball three |E| times for 17 yards, |F| averaging 5.7 yards per |G| carry.

Gibson is a |H| roster lock, but thats |J| not the case for |K| Kevin Harris and JaMychal |L| Hasty. Both backup running |M| backs made good cases |O| for spots on the |P| Patriots 53-man roster. Harris |Q| had one of the |R| highlights of the night |S| when he caught a |U| pass in the flat, |V| made a defensive player |Y| miss, and then jumped |Z| over another en route |A| to an 18-yard touchdown |B| catch in the first |C| quarter.

Hasty was also |D| one of the most |E| productive players for the |F| Patriots on Sunday. He |G| ran the ball four |H| times for 21 yards |J| (5.3 yards per carry) |K| and caught three passes |L| for 24 yards.

Roster |M| bubble linebackers

The preseason |O| finale is mainly reserved |P| for players fighting for |Q| roster spots. On defense, |R| the Patriots sat projected |S| starting linebackers Jahlani Tavai |U| and JaWhaun Bentley. That |V| led to more playing |Y| time for linebackers fighting |Z| for jobs.

On Sunday, |A| the Patriots received encouraging |B| performances from Joe Giles-Harris |C| and Christian Ellis.

Giles-Harris |D| intercepted Commanders quarterback Jeff |E| Driskel at 8:33 of |F| the second quarter. The |G| linebacker, who worked his |H| way into the Patriots |J| top defense in practice, |K| has had a solid |L| training camp in Foxborough. |M| Giles-Harris also had five |O| tackles.

Elliss was a |P| core special teamer for |Q| the Patriots at the |R| end of last season. |S| On Sunday, he played |U| well on defense. Elliss |V| led the Patriots in |Y| tackles with 11 before |Z| departing the game with |A| a head injury.

Trending |B| Down

Offensive line

The |C| Patriots debuted a new |D| offensive line alignment on |E| Sunday night – and |F| although it first looked |G| promising, the play on |H| the field was anything |J| but encouraging.

The team |K| started Michael Onwenu (right |L| tackle), Layden Robinson (right |M| guard), Nick Leverett (center), |O| Sidy Sow (left guard), |P| and Chuks Okorafor (left |Q| tackle). In the first |R| half, the offensive line |S| had a laundry list |U| of miscues – sack |V| allowed, two bad snaps, |Y| a false start, three |Z| holding penalties, four illegal |A| formation penalties (one negated |B| a touchdown) and someone |C| even dislodged a quarterbacks |D| shoe.

In the first |E| drive, at 12:30, Sow |F| ran into Robinson, and |G| that allowed Commanders defensive |H| end K.J. Henry to |J| get a clean sack |K| on Brissett, who looked |L| shaken up.

In the |M| second drive, Mayes first |O| snap was a bad |P| snap by Leverett for |Q| a loss of eight |R| yards. Leverett had another |S| bad snap that drive |U| for a loss of |V| three yards. Two plays |Y| later, Robinson missed a |Z| block on Commanders defensive |A| end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, who |B| dropped Hasty for a |C| loss of two yards.

|D| dir="ltr">In the third series, |E| Sow stepped on Mayes |F| left foot and the |G| quarterback lost his shoe. |H| One play later, Robinson |J| was whistled for a |K| false start. The drive |L| ended on a play |M| that resulted in zero |O| yards, but Okorafor was |P| whistled for illegal formation |Q| (which was declined).In the |R| fourth series, Okorafor was |S| whistled for another illegal |U| formation penalty (which was |V| also declined).

In the |Y| fifth series, the Patriots |Z| had two holding penalties |A| with one on Robinson |B| and one on Sow |C| on third down at |D| the same time Onwenu |E| was flagged for illegal |F| formation (both were declined).

|G| dir="ltr">In the sixth series, |H| Sow left the field |J| due to an ankle |K| injury. His replacement, Michael |L| Jordan, was flagged for |M| a hold. In that |O| drive, Maye hit K.J. |P| Osborn for a 48-yard |Q| touchdown, but it was |R| negated due to Okorafors |S| third illegal formation penalty.

|U| dir="ltr">Jacoby Brissett

It wasnt |V| his fault, but Brissetts |Y| night didnt go as |Z| planned.

The veteran quarterback |A| played one series before |B| suffering a right shoulder |C| injury.

Brissetts first drive |D| looked promising after the |E| quarterback hit Antonio Gibson |F| for a 13-yard play |G| on third-and-5. After Gibson |H| picked up another first |J| down, on the ground, |K| the Patriots were at |L| midfield. However, thats where |M| things went awry.

At |O| 12:30 of the first |P| quarter, Commanders defensive lineman |Q| K.J. Henry went unblocked, |R| when guard Sidy Sow |S| ran into guard Layden |U| Robinson, and delivered a |V| crushing sack on Brissett. |Y| The veteran quarterback looked |Z| shaken up as he |A| landed hard on his |B| left shoulder. Brissett threw |C| two passes on the |D| next two snaps and |E| had a nice deep |F| pass on third down, |G| but it fell incomplete |H| as K.J. Osborn failed |J| to get two hands |K| on the ball.

Brissett |L| looked in pain and |M| on the next offensive |O| series, the Patriots opted |P| to keep him on |Q| the sideline. The team |R| announced he suffered a |S| right shoulder injury. The |U| veteran quarterback finished 2-of-4 |V| for 19 yards on |Y| the night.

Brissett played |Z| in five offensive drives |A| this preseason. His group |B| scored zero points.

Azizi |C| Hearn

It was a |D| rough preseason finale for |E| Azizi Hearn.

The cornerback |F| is fighting for a |G| roster spot - and |H| most likely a spot |J| on the Patriots practice |K| squad. Sunday night might |L| not help his chances.

|M| dir="ltr">In the late fourth |O| quarter, Hearn attempted to |P| tackle quarterback Trace McSorley, |Q| but the Commanders backup |R| hit Hearn with his |S| right shoulder and dropped |U| the cornerback on the |V| ground. The Washington sideline |Y| went nuts. Hearn had |Z| a chance to redeem |A| himself, but on the |B| next play, the cornerback |C| was flagged for pass |D| interference. That cost the |E| defense 19 yards.

Three |F| plays later, McSorley beat |G| Hearn for a 4-yard |H| touchdown to Martavis Bryant |J| at 3:10 of the |K| fourth quarter.

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