Mac Jones, healthy Patriots starters expected to play Friday vs. Panthers

FOXBORO -- Patriots fans will get their first glimpse of Mac Jones and company in game action on Friday night. 

Jones and most of New England's healthy starters are expected to play in Friday night's preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium, ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss reported Friday morning. Jones and the majority of New England's regulars on offense and defense didn't play in last week's preseason opener against the New York Giants.

It'll be interesting to see how long the likes of Jones, DeVante Parker, Nelson Agholor, Damien Harris, and Rhamondre Stevenson play against the Panthers. On defense, we'll be watching for top corner Jalen Mills and whoever Bill Belichick has on the other side of the secondary, along with the big guys on the defensive line and in the linebacking corps. 

The Pats and the Panthers just had a pair of joint practices in Foxboro this week, which gave them a chance to run some plays against someone other than their teammates -- at least when the two teams weren't fighting. So don't expect Jones to be under center for more than a half, and he'll likely only see a few drives depending on how the game goes.

The Patriots have more joint practices in Las Vegas with the Raiders next week, and Belichick is always talking up the joint sessions as being more valuable than preseason action. But however long they play, it will be nice to see the Patriots' regulars get out their for the first time this preseaon.

On the Carolina side, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said earlier this week that he'll primarily play his second and third stingers in the exhibition.

Tune in to Friday's Patriots-Panthers preseason game on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots -- and streaming on CBSBoston.com! Coverage begins at 6:30pm with Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 7pm, and stay tuned after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots Fifth Quarter!