The New England Patriots didn’t win pretty in their game against the Washington Football Team in the first week of preseason. Both the Patriots’ offense and defense were efficient — but didn’t wow. That made for a low-scoring affair, with New England winning, 22-13.

Washington nearly tied the game in the final minutes, but the 2-point conversion, which was initially ruled a completed pass from Steven Montez to Antonio Gandy-Golden, was overturned as an incompletion.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson slammed the door closed with a 91-yard touchdown in the final minute of the game. He scored both of the Patriots’ touchdowns in the fourth quarter when starters were long gone. Football Team quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and Patriots quarterback Cam Newton each played two series. Newton’s series finished with a field goal and a punt. Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones led five series, with two field goals and one punt.

New England seems to have fast-tracked Jones on a trajectory to takeover the starting job. He did not misstep this evening.

Here are more thoughts on Jones, Newton and the rest of the Patriots in these eight takeaways.

Cam Newton had one messy and one solid drive. Mac Jones was efficient, even if he was unspectacular.

The statistics honestly tell the story pretty well. Newton finished 4 of 7 for 49 yards. Jones was 13 of 19 for 87 yards.

Newton’s first drive stalled after a pair of incompletions, including one in which the quarterback nearly fumbled while getting sacked by the defending Defensive Rookie of the Year, Chase Young. He ate left tackle Isaiah Wynn alive on that snap. Newton bounced back on the following series, which was a 10-play, 43-yard drive that ended with a field goal. The problems came in the red zone, where the Patriots committed a holding penalty. Once they got off schedule, the first-down marker felt a mile away. Sounds familiar, right? Felt a little like 2020.

Jones, meanwhile, went about beating Washington with the death-by-1000-cuts approach. That’s more or less what I expected from the rookie, who loved checking down and working the short part of the field when he first arrived in Foxborough this spring. For the most part, he was finding his footing, again as I expected. What I didn’t expect was his beautiful throw to Kristian Wilkerson on Jones’ first drive. The throw fell incomplete — but not because of Jones. The ball hit Wilkerson right in the hands.

Jones’ final two drives finished both with punts. His last drive, where he took a sack and a quarterback hit, seemed to be a product of separation issues from his receivers.

Look out, NFL. The Patriots' outside linebackers are coming in hot.

There will be no shortage of overreactions after the first game of the preseason, where starters only played three series, if that. But it looked like New England’s outside linebackers are for real. Matthew Judon had excellent contributions in the run game, with an excellent third-down tackle on Peyton Barber, and in the pass-rush, where he generated at least two pressures.

Judon stepped out of the game for a few plays (but seemed to be fine when he returned to action), and that gave Josh Uche a shot at being a heat-seeking-missile for a few plays with the starters. Uche played with the same tenacious speed which made him a liability in training camp and spring practices.

Uche, who worked at inside linebacker and off both edges as the game continued, took over for Judon when the Patriots pulled their starters. He finished the game with two tackles. He appeared to suffer an injury near the end zone in the second quarter — he did not return to action but was on the sideline to watch the second half. His status will be worth monitoring.

Uche’s emergence and Judon’s arrival will help round out an already deep linebacker group, which includes Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Chase Winovich, who we haven’t seen yet due to injury.

The Patriots have a legit three-headed running back group

Sony Michel provided some flash and dash with six rushes for 26 yards. Damien Harris (4 carries, 17 yards) pounded the rock, though he didn’t lack in the way of explosiveness. James White, meanwhile, showed off his patented skills as a pass-catcher, with two receptions for 22 yards.

As the game wore on, the Patriots relied upon J.J. Taylor and Rhamondre Stevenson — and Michel. It was surprising to see him staying in the game with six minutes left in the third quarter. That’s something to keep an eye on.

But let’s play the hits. Here’s Stevenson’s touchdown run.

We should really be talking more about DT Davon Godchaux

He didn’t play all that much, as he left the game after just a few series, but he managed to log three tackles. That’s extremely impressive for a defensive tackle, particularly on a three-man defensive line. The Patriots gave Godchaux a two-year, $16-million deal that compares to what they paid receiver Nelson Agholor. Godchaux will land in the top 24 in earnings (based on average earnings) for 2021 among defensive tackles. That’s a big deal for a player who seems poised to be a big deal.

Without Stephon Gilmore, J.C. Jackson was solid but not spectacular

Whenever Jackson is forced to play without Gilmore, the game serves as a reminder of just how good Gilmore has been for the Patriots in his four-year tenure. If Jackson lets up a few passes, he’s pretty much fallen below Gilmore’s standards of play. And that’s what I saw: Jackson appeared to let up a pair of passes for Terry McLaurin. That’s solid — but it’s not quite on Gilmore’s level.

So that begs the question: when will Gilmore be healthy? And when will his contract situation settle?

Bill Belichick won't be happy with the special teams units

Punt returner Marvin Hall muffed a punt. Huge yikes.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, the kickoff team committed a holding penalty. Mammoth yikes.

The punt team committed three penalties. Hide for cover!

Belichick, who loves him some special teams, will probably give these units an earful when he does a team-wide film study on Friday morning. That’s what the “lowlights” take place.

N'Keal Harry did a disappearing act

Harry was having such a nice training camp, showing up with big plays where his athleticism truly showed. There were days where those big catches were all he contributed. Harry did also have a few practices where he was able to log a few meaningful catches in 11-on-11s. The arrow seemed to be trending up. But then Week 1 of preseason happened. He played almost every snap through the third quarter. All he managed was one target, one catch and four yards. That’s a rough outing on the same night when Jakobi Meyers got in and out of the game quickly but managed one catch for 11 yards (and he should’ve had another, if not for poor officiating).

Kristian Wilkerson also had six catches for 39 yards.

A few younger, bubble players made impressions -- both good and bad

Let’s just bounce through a few players of note.

  • Cornerback and safety Myles Bryant made a pass breakup in the second quarterback before forcing tight end Ricky Seals-Jones out of bounds to make an incompletion.
  • Not only did Wilkerson log his six catches, but he was also on the starting kickoff coverage units. He was also a backup gunner.
  • Rookie Quinn Nordin had the spotlight, with Nick Folk nursing an injury. Nordin was 3 of 3 on field goals, but missed an extra point.
  • Cornerback Joejuan Williams logged an interception by being in the right place at the right time after a tipped pass.
  • Safety Malik Gant made three tackles, with work both as a run-defending safety and a kickoff coverage man.
  • Safety Kyle Dugger, who has been almost exclusively running with the starters, logged four tackles. Some of those were good run support, but some of those were because he was allowing catches.