Chase Winovich was almost a forgotten man, starting out the first two weeks of training camp on the PUP list, but he certainly made his presence felt in Thursday’s 35-0 rout of the Eagles with five tackles, and two sacks.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Winovich. “I missed it.”

The Patriots went out and got some pass rush help during the offseason, signing Matt Judon to a lucrative free agent deal. Dont’a Hightower is back after opting out last year, and Kyle Van Noy returned after a season in Miami. With Josh Uche also poised for a breakout year, it was tough to see where Winovich might fit in.

Going on just a couple days of practice, though, Winovich began to state his case with a noteworthy performance against the Eagles.

“I don’t really feel it’s a competition,” said Winovich, “because to me … this is how I look at it: Everything is about you vs. you. I believe that in my heart of hearts … And all I can do is be the best version of Chase possible.”

Winovich said he tried hard not to listen to “the noise” surrounding his future with the Patriots, especially being on the sidelines to start training camp.

“I just kept focusing on doing the things I had to do to prepare,” he said, “and let my actions speak for themselves. That’s all you can do.”

The long-haired Winovich is a free spirit, and some have suggested he’s not a good fit for the defense. The linebacker, though, says he’s all about the Patriot Way.

“Either Coach Belichick is one of the greatest coaches of all time by accident, or there’s a reason and a method behind everything we do,” said Winovich. “And I have bought in, and I’m committed to whatever they ask me to do, and just being that piece, as part of the team.”

QUINN NORDIN had a chaotic evening in Philadelphia. And chaos is generally not what coaches want to see from a placekicker.

The undrafted rookie missed three kicks – two extra points and a 36-yard field goal – spraying them all wide right. Nordin rebounded to make his last two attempts, but finished the evening 3 for 6. Coach Bill Belichick evaluated Nordin’s performance on a conference call Friday.

“I think when you go through any player’s performance in the preseason – really in any game, player or coach – there are always some good plays and some plays we’d all like to have back,” Belichick said. “I thought Quinn did a good job of rebounding there in the second half. Came back and hit the ball well.

“But obviously a big part of everybody’s game and – certainly specialists’ game – is consistency. So I’d say that we’ve seen a little bit of that from all the specialists in the first two preseason games. We’re all obviously working for more consistency. Especially when you have a three-man operation there with the snapper, holder, and kicker, there’s an element of that. So keep working through it and see where it goes.”

One of the staples of that three-man operation is longsnapper Joe Cardona, who has been sidelined for almost two weeks with an undisclosed injury. Belichick signed Brian Khoury in his absence, and snaps didn’t seem to be an issue at all on Thursday night; they were all right on holder Jake Bailey’s hands.

“We’ve had some moving parts there, but that’s part of it too, is working with different people and so forth,” Belichick said. “So that’s actually a good thing in the long run, even though in the short run it probably affects the overall performance and consistency. But again, I felt the good part of last night was we got those things straightened out later in the game and the ball went through. The bad thing is we left five points on the field that we should have had.

“That team only goes on the field for one reason. Success and failure couldn’t be more clear cut. We’ve gotta get the ball through the uprights. So obviously we need some work on it.”

CAM NEWTON, through a crowd of mostly green Eagles jerseys at Lincoln Financial Field, spotted the guy in the end zone who was not only waving a blue Patriots jersey but one with Newton’s name and No. 1.

So after the New England quarterback connected with Jakobi Meyers for a first-quarter touchdown, Newton grabbed the ball and flipped it to that fan as a souvenir.
With no fans in the stands because of the pandemic in 2020, Newton had to shelve one of his favorite celebratory traditions that he did regularly when he was a Carolina Panther. He didn’t throw or run for a touchdown last week at Gillette Stadium so this was the first chance.

“That’s my thing,” Newton said during his postgame press conference. “It’s my appreciation to the fans. Hopefully, there’ll be a lot of Sunday giveaways to look forward to in the upcoming season.”

A TIGHT SITUATION: With Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry and Matt Lacosse all out, Devin Asiasi was the Patriots’ only available tight end. Belichick said he thought being forced to react to that in the game plan was valuable.

“That’s real football. Things happen and you have to make adjustments. Guys have to maybe do something that is a little bit different than what they have been doing. We cross-train guys to do more than one thing,” he said. “Devin played around 40 snaps and there were times when he wasn’t on the field. Sometimes we had linemen in there, sometimes we had four receivers on the field, or two back in the backfield. We utilize those formations. When we’re short on a position, then we have to use other personnel groups.

“Those are the kind of things we’re going to have to do. Sometimes you will have to do them before the game. Sometimes it comes within the game. That was a good learning situation for us.”

ROOKIE RUNNNING BACK Rhamondre Stevenson, who led all non-kickers in scoring with two touchdowns in Week One of the preseason, matched that feat with two more in Week 2. In two games he now has 25 carries for 193 yards and four touchdowns.

J.J. Taylor led New England running backs with 12 carries for 93 yards.

HURTS HURTING: The Patriots were expecting to face Stevenson’s Oklahoma teammate Jalen Hurts, but the Eagles’ projected starter was a later scratch with a stomach ailment. Instead, much-traveled former Ravens star Joe Flacco started.

“He came in and wasn’t feeling great. We put him through pregame warmups. He wanted to go out there and go through pregame warmups,” Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni said. “He came back in and still wasn’t feeling good. We evaluated him and we just decided it wasn’t in his best interest to play with what he was feeling. We evaluated him. He is fine now. He is doing OK now, but that is why we held him out.”

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