Patriots' Pierre Strong: Seven touches in preseason opener

Strong rushed six times for 25 yards and caught his only target for no gain in Thursday's 23-21 preseason loss to the Giants.

Strong has reportedly shown good receiving ability in camp, which could be his ticket to a complementary role in the wake of James White's retirement, but he failed to make much of an impact in that regard Thursday. It's also a bit worrisome that he was deployed after both J.J. Taylor and rookie sixth-round pick Kevin Harris, which suggests that Strong could be below both in New England's backfield pecking order, but the 2022 fourth-rounder has time to make up some ground on that front. On the bright side, Strong's average of 4.2 yards per carry was the highest among Patriots rushers Thursday, which gives him some momentum to build on for the second preseason game against Carolina next Friday.