Before the game, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was asked what advice he would give to a player who is worried about a place in the squad ahead of the season finale.

“When you hit someone on the first snap, it goes right back to football,” Mayo said. “I think sometimes the fear and stuff like that is over the top. Look, fear is natural. It’s normal. We talk about it every week. But when you go out there and make some plays, it’s just like when you were 6 years old on the practice field.”

“They understand that it is professional football. There are more people in the dressing room than there are jobs. They have known that since day one.”

Veterans Center David Andrewswho was an undrafted free agent as a rookie and had no guarantee of making the team in 2015, recalled having a simple mindset heading into the final week of training camp and the final preseason game: no regrets.

“It’s tough. It’s a tough week,” he said. “I can remember mine, and I didn’t really know what was going on because I was training with some, but then when the media was here, I wasn’t training with the others. I just didn’t know what was going to happen and if the guys were going to come back healthy or whatever.

“At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you just want to lie down at night and know that you’ve released your best video. And I think that’s the most important thing, right? You just don’t want to have any regrets.”

Andrews and Defensive End Deacon Wise say the best thing for a young player is to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Take a deep breath, go out there and do your thing,” Wise said. “And if you don’t make that team, film your resume so the other 31 teams can evaluate you and see what you can do. Because we all know what happens at the end of the day. But there’s a place out there for someone; whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

For Andrews, it was a strong rookie summer and injuries elsewhere on the roster that not only paved his way onto the roster, but also paved his way to becoming an established starter who would go on to win two Super Bowls.

“I tell young guys, you never know,” he said. “You never know when the opportunity will come. I didn’t know there would be injuries and things like that and I would have the opportunity to go out and play.”

“And I always wanted to take advantage of that. And when I failed and had to do something else, I could say, ‘OK, I did my best.’ So that’s always my message to the young people. They want to maximize their potential and go from there.”

Not all there

Several veterans were not seen warming up, including cornerback Jonathan JonesLinebackers Joshua Ucheoffensive linemen Vederian Lowe And Calvin Andersontight end Mitchell Wilcoxand defensive players Christian Barmore … The starting offensive line consisted of (from right to left) Mike Onwenu, Layden Robinson, Nick Leverett, Sidy SowAnd Chukwuma Okorafor. It was the same grouping that the Patriots had used for much of the last week of training camp … The biggest surprises among the starting players were at running back (Antonio Gibson instead Rhamondre Stevenson) and Tight End (Rookie Jaheim Bell). Bell caught an 8-yard pass from Jacoby Brissett on New England’s opening drive… On defense, the Patriots had a mix of regulars and substitutes on the field at the start of the game. Christian Gonzalez And Marcus Jones were among the starters in the secondary, while second-team players such as linebacker Christian Ellis and security Joshua Bledsoe also got the call … Linebacker Jahlani Tavai and Security/Special Team Leader Brenden Schooler participated in the coin toss, which was an NFL first for both.

Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.