I think the safety position next to McCourty will be a gameplan-specific spot this season.
As we saw last year and against the Eagles on Friday, there seems to be a permanent spot for a single safety, three cornerback package in the secondary. Whether that’s due to the cornerbacks simply being better than the safeties behind McCourty, or an actual philosophical shift that corners are more equipped against offenses like Philly’s, I’m not sure.
I think we’ll see some packages with McCourty and Harmon on the back end at the same time, especially against the better passing attacks. Perhaps even three-safety looks at times as well with Chung in the box.
It’s important to remember that the preseason is as much about getting guys experience in different spots and throwing them into the fire to see how they do as it is running out your depth chart from top-to-bottom over the course of the game.
We can’t read too much into one player playing more or less most of the time. This might be the only chance the Pats get to see some of these guys in a game this season and it’s important to find out as much about them as possible, especially by surrounding them with the 1’s, going against the other teams 1’s.