The New England Patriots are heading into their final preseason game with the New York Giants after getting completely dominated by the Detroit Lions on Thursday night and with roster cuts looming, players like Tim Tebow have their futures in mind and whether they will make the team for the regular season.
The Patriots are fairly set at most of the major positions and according to ESPN.com, head coach Bill Belichick said that the team has "80 percent" of the roster finalized heading into the final week of practice before the last preseason game. The Patriots won their first two preseason games but got dominated 40-9 by the Lions on Thursday, looking inconsistent on both sides of the ball and they were also unable to stop pressure on Tom Brady. Belichick said that the team is focusing on filling out the bottom parts of the roster, making sure that the offense, defense and special teams are strong in the right places.
Belichick mentioned a number of packages that he was focusing on, including at the goal line, substitution packages, multiple receivers, backs and others, saying that the roster needed to fulfill all those different sets. Although he didn't mention him directly, the biggest question about cuts is whether quarterback Tim Tebow will make it on the final roster or not. Most people in the media feel that Tebow will make it past the first roster cut down, but the big question is whether he will be on the 53-man roster when the season begins.
The Tuesday cut will be from 84 players down to 75 on the roster and the next big deadline will be at 53 players on Saturday before the regular season begins the following week. Some names that the Patriots may also consider include Kamar Aiken, Jonathan Haggerty, Evan Landl, LeQuan Lewis as well as Ryan Allen, according to ESPN.com, and Tebow will likely not be part of that first cut down. Tebow could be playing for a roster spot on Thursday night and that comes after he did not play in the game against the Lions, with Brady and backup Ryan Mallett playing the full game.
The last preseason game is interesting for the fact that it has the Giants and with Tebow being one of the players on the fringe for the Patriots, there could be some extra buzz in the final game of the preseason. Tebow said he was prepared to play on Thursday night and said it was no problem that he didn't get in the game. Tebow said he was ready for the cut down day and while it is likely that he will be with the team when they play the Giants, there is no guarantee yet that he will make it past the first cut down. The Giants already started making some moves, cutting former number four overall pick Aaron Curry after signing him earlier in the offseason.
