After three long weeks, the Patriots have wrapped up their 1-1-1 preseason with an ugly 37-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Kyle Dixon stands out:

There were not many positives to take away from Thursday’s loss to Cleveland; however, rookie wide receiver Kyle Dixon was among the select few players who stood out.

Dixon caught all eight passes thrown his way for 71 yards, leading the team in receiving. The rookie, who had an extremely slow start to the summer, was able to build off his performance in the team’s second preseason game.

In that game, Dixon had just two receptions for 10 yards, but one came on a crucial fourth down on the team’s game-winning drive. With his tall stature, standing 6 feet 4 inches, you would expect Dixon to be a contested catch wide receiver; however, all of  the Culver-Stockton product’s catches came on comebacks, in-breaking and out-breaking routes.

Dixon and Morton continued to show chemistry on quick outs, connecting on two in Cleveland and one the week prior. Additionally, the pass catcher hauled in balls on a few dig routes in the shorter and intermediate parts of the field.
 
The performance likely earned him a spot on the team’s practice squad, if he did not already have one.

Depth cornerback’s struggle:

The Amazon Prime broadcast showed Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez donning a large “iced out” chain during Thursday’s contest, and if the Patriots want a competitive defense in 2026, they need to fund the next 100 chains for Gonzalez.

The Patriots’ depth corners could not have performed worse. Every single corner in contention for the team’s fourth spot was beaten badly multiple times.

Kindle Vildor, the veteran who appeared to be making a late roster push, was flagged for defensive pass interference and was spun around by Brown’s receiver Gage Larvadain, resulting in a 21-yard pitch and catch.

It was an even worse night for Charles Woods, a player many thought had the fourth cornerback spot locked up. In his first action of the preseason, Woods was tested right away and looked like a player who had not played all preseason long.

Woods gave up five catches on five targets, which went for 69 yards. Woods’ once secure spot on the roster is now in jeopardy.

Finally, rookie cornerback Karon Prunty had an uninspiring night himself. The 5th round pick allowed two catches on three targets but was beaten on plays in which the ball did not come his way.

One of Prunty’s losses came while matched up on receiver Ben Patterson. Prunty predicted Patterson would break towards the sideline and closed his body off. Prunty guessed wrong, and Patterson moved the corner off his spot at the top of his route, resulting in the receiver getting open and hauling in the pass.

With nothing to feel good about behind the tandem of Gonzalez, Carlton Davis III and Marcus Jones, the Patriots could look to waivers or free agency to add their fourth cornerback.

Kyle Williams: touchdown machine

Kyle Williams capped off his preseason perfectly, adding a third touchdown to his registry. It was another familiar result from Williams.

The Washington State product ran a go route down the left sideline and easily beat his defender for the score, something that will happen consistently when playing press coverage on Williams.

Although he only played a select number of snaps, the second-year pass catcher caught two passes, the aforementioned touchdown, and a comeback that Williams did a good job settling in between his man-to-man cornerback and the linebacker playing the flat.

If Williams wants to play a big part in the team’s offense, he needs to add another route to his tree. Maybe the comeback route can be just that.

What they said:

Mike Vrabel stepped up to the podium for the first time since wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was traded to the Houston Texans and delivered a somewhat surprising response to a question about Boutte.

“It was one place where we do have some depth, and I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing,” Vrabel told reporters late Thursday night. “Without injuries, Kayshon probably would have been inactive. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the way it was. It’s just with him not playing special teams.”

The Patriots will have to trim their 90-man roster down to 53 players by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.