Drake Maye is shown vs. the Eagles in the preseason two years ago. The Eagles are back at Gillette Stadium tonight, and it wasn't known if Maye will play after the two joint practices with Philly. (AP photo)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s another weekend in August, and that means another New England Patriots preseason game, this one slated for tonight vs. the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.

We can pretty much assure that cornerback Christian Gonzalez won’t be playing.It simply doesn’t make sense for him not being 100 percent, plus his contract issue, nor does it make sense for the Patriots.

Will fans be able to see any meat and potatoes? You may see Drake Maye play a couple of series after sitting out last week’s practice game opener vs. Indy.

But remember, these joint practices are the real preseason showings, so who knows who will be out there.

Ho hum.

Having the Eagles here is a reminder of what consistent winners – which the Patriots used to be – can look like. That’s the task for New England after stunningly making the Super Bowl a year ago.

“Well, sustained success in the National Football League is tough, difficult,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “We know that the system isn’t set up for that. I think they’ve drafted well, they’ve retained their players, and they found a quarterback that they want – a franchise quarterback (Jalen Hurts, who threw three picks on the first day of joint skirmishes). I think that that’s a good place to start.

“When you can draft well, you can develop players and get them re-signed, and then find a quarterback that leads your football team, that’s a good place to start.”

Here’s what we see so far for New England: Offensively, Will Campbell has looked fine at left tackle. People forget that he was playing hurt in last year’s postseason and in the Super Bowl with his miniscus. If it were regular season he never would have played.

What we’re seeing with Maye is a kid who’s getting older and more mature, more of a pro. The “aw shucks” look is gone. He’s a Super Bowl QB who will someday win one.

Three, Kayshon Boutte is the question mark. Traded or part of a seven-receiver room come regular season? The latter number is unlikely, we think Efron Chism ends up on the practice squad. But at his salary it’s tempting to keep him and deal Boutte away, despite his chemistry with Maye.

Defensively, as of this writing, the Gonzalez deal is a cloud hanging over this team. But the one thing the Patriots need is a pass rusher. Don’t be fooled by anything you see or, depending on when you read this, saw on Saturday night.

The week is trend setting for the Patriots.

“I think the biggest thing is to be able to be flexible, adjust day-by-day to see where (the team) is,” Vrabel said. “Then we’ll have to make a decision what that looks like for the game and all those things.”

Ah, the game. What can you say when the biggest story line from a preseason game is actually something that happened in the contest like 10 days ago? The three misses including one from 49 yards at the end by placekicker Andy Borregales was certainly a hot topic. We can’t remember the last time a kicker had a media crowd at his locker following a preseason game.

Vrabel said this week that Borregales is ready to right that wrong if needed.

“Yes, I think so,” he said. “Again, I don’t want to make excuses, but we were trying to take a look at another snapper. Julian [Ashby] was dealing with something, so we felt like it would be a good opportunity to take a look at another snapper.

“You just understand how critical that operation is, the snap, the laces, all the other things. Yes, we have to make them. But I felt like, to Andy’s credit, he had a great day in front of the team and was able to make the one there at the end, after the two-minute drill.”

The bottom line? The Patriots and their fans plod along with fingers crossed on a few topics, including health and wealth.

We’ll let you know how it goes.