Welcome to the third week of the NFL’s 2019 preseason — welcome to the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the first week of the regular season. The New England Patriots will take on the Carolina Panthers tonight, in a game that will see the reigning world champions’ starters take the field for the first time during an actual game this year: Tom Brady and most of the other roster locks sat out the last two games, but will be back in action today.
Their return obviously is the biggest pregame storyline from New England’s perspective, but there are plenty of other things to keep a close eye on tonight.