AJ Derby

Tight end A.J. Derby, a second year player out of Arkansas, had an impressive second preseason game with a touchdown catch  off a pass from Garoppolo and will get more opportunities in this one with Gronkowski unlikely to play.

Earlier this week, the Patriots cut tight end Bear Pascoe, meaning the battle for a third tight end spot will likely come down to A.J. Derby and Clay Harbor. 

Defense

Just about everyone expects the Patriots defense to be one of the best in the league this season and this will be the best test that they will have until week 1. 

Carolina showed last year that they were one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and Cam Newton showed he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league. 

New England's defense will not be at full strength with Rob Ninkovich and Jabaal Sheard each out for a few weeks but this should be a good test for the defensive line and the secondary nonetheless. 

Brady to Play

Tom Brady has made the trip to Carolina with the team and he will play on Friday night, according to Comcast Sportsnet. 

It is unclear how much he will play, when he will play or even who he will play with. 

What could happen is Garoppolo gets the start and plays and then Belichick takes him out and puts Brady in for a series, then Garoppolo goes back in. We have seen Belichick do this before in preseason games past with Brady and a backup QB. 

Brady has yet to play in the preseason and has yet to even be at a preseason game.   

While I don't believe that Brady getting one series from Garoppolo is going to be the difference between the Patriots going 2-2 or 1-3 or whatever record you want to plug in, I do think it is important for Garoppolo to start and get used to starting a game on the road. 

How Belichick will manage this will be fascinating after he has said all preseason that Garoppolo is the priority. 

Center Position

The Patriots traded center Bryan Stork to the Washington Redskins on Wednesday meaning that second year player David Andrews will be the center this season. 

However, the concern is not with Andrews who played well for the Patriots last season and has performed well in training camp. The concern here is the depth behind Andrews. 

Behind Andrews, only Josh Kline and rookie Ted Karras have taken snaps at center for the Patriots in training camp. Karras was the Patriots 6th round pick out of Illinois. 

We likely won't see Kline and or Karras take over at center until late in the game but it will be something worth keeping an eye on. 

Jimmy Garoppolo

The biggest game of the preseason for Jimmy Garoppolo is here. 

Taking on the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers on the road in a hostile environment and going up against their starters for at least a half, if not longer.

"This will be a good test. It's pretty much the closest thing we'll get to Week 1, so we'll see how it goes," said Garoppolo earlier this week. 

Garoppolo played into the third quarter in last weeks game against Chicago, going 16 of 21 for 181 yards, a touchdown pass, and an impressive 2-minute drill to close the first half. 

However, he has only played limited time against opposing teams starters all preseason so expect this to be a big test.