Patriots rookie review: How Pats’ first

The New England Patriots kicked off a new era on Sunday against the Houston Texans . The end result — a 41-21 blowout loss to drop the team to 1-5 on the year — was not the biggest story coming out of the game: first-round rookie quarterback Drake Maye made his first career start.

Naturally, all eyes were on him on Sunday and in the days since. However, he was not the only rookie player to see extensive action versus Houston.

Game day rosterQB Drake Maye: Maye's starting debut may have ended in defeat, but the third overall selection in this year's draft showed plenty to build on. Looking as advertised in terms of arm talented, escapability, and rawness, he completed 20 of 33 pass attempts for 243 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. There is substantial room for growth for both him and the offense he played in, but the early signs were encouraging — a change for the Patriots on that side of the ball this season. For a more in-depth look at Maye, though, please click here , here , here , and here .

WR Ja'Lynn Polk: The Patriots' passing game showed some progress with Maye under center, but second-round pick Ja'Lynn Polk was not the beneficiary of that. Unlike fellow wideouts DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte, he failed to take advantage of his opportunities and saw his role reduced: playing 43 total snaps, he was targeted three times and caught just one 4-yard pass. His other targets were drops, both coming on third down.

CB/ST Marcellas Dial Jr.: Drake Maye was not the only Patriots rookie to see his most extensive action to date against Houston. In his role as a five-unit special teamer, Marcellas Dial Jr. played a career-high 30 kicking game snaps split between kickoff return and coverage, punt return and coverage, and field goal/extra point blocking. While he did not register any stats, the sixth-round draft pick was flagged for holding to take a 28-yard Marcus Jones punt return off the board in the second quarter.

TE Jaheim Bell: Like Dial Jr., the Patriots' seventh-round tight end also played his most snaps ever on Sunday: Bell set a career high in snaps on both offense (6) and special teams (9). His offensive role saw him line up both as an inline option and in the slot; he run-blocked on two of those inline snaps and ran routes without any targets on the other four. In the kicking game, meanwhile, he was employed on both the kickoff and punt return squads.

S/ST Dell Pettus: As opposed to the last two games, Pettus' defensive role decreased again with Kyle Dugger returning to action as a 100-percent player. Consequently, the UDFA played just five defensive snaps in a box safety and slot alignment. He did see plenty of special teams snaps, however: playing a career-best 23 snaps between the same five units ass Marcellas Dial Jr., he continues to serve as a core kicking game presence for New England.

LB/ST Curtis Jacobs: Jacobs did not see any defensive snaps for the first time in three weeks, but he again was played his usual role as a member of New England's kick and punt return and coverage teams. In that capacity, he registered a tackle on a first-quarter punt. In total, the former waiver wire pickup was on the field for 20 snaps in the game's third phase — sixth-most on the team, and third among its rookies.

RB Terrell Jennings: With Rhamondre Stevenson out due to a foot injury, the Patriots elevated Jennings from the practice squad for their game against Houston and promptly made him active. The third member of a rotation also featuring Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty, he played 14 offensive snaps in his first NFL game and carried the ball five times for 13 yards. He also ran eight routes without any targets, and held firm on his lone rep as a pass blocker. Additionally, he played seven snaps on the two kickoff teams.

The rest of the Patriots' rookie class was not active for game day against the Texans. Alongside fourth-round picks OL Layden Robinson WR Javon BakerQB Joe Milton III was also made a healthy scratch in Week 6.

In addition to those three players, eight other rookies were on the practice squad for Sunday's game. None of DT Marcus HarrisC Sincere Haynesworth — who has since been released — C Bryan HudsonCB D.J. JamesWR John JilesS Mark PerryTE Jack Westover were elevated to the game day roster. International player ED Jotham Russell, meanwhile, carries a practice squad exception and is not expected to appear in any games this season.