Patriots-Panthers Live: Mac Jones has a photo of the Patriots playoff loss in his locker

FOXBORO – The photo of Mac Jones shows the Patriots quarterback dejected. Here he’s walking with his head down after throwing an interception during the Patriots wildcard loss to the Buffalo Bills last season.

It’s not a good memory, but for Jones, it’s motivation.

This photo, taken on Jan 15, in Orchard Park, N.Y., is currently taped up in Jones’ locker. It’s printed in black and white with the score, ’41-17’ written on it in red marker. It’s what the second-year quarterback looks at every day he’s in the Patriots locker room (along with two poems).

After making his 2022 preseason debut on Friday, Jones talked about why he looks at that painful memory every time he changes into his uniform.

“I’ve always been a big fan of having motivation and stuff in your locker,” said Jones. “My dad, the two things he’s always shown me is the poem ‘Man in the Arena’ and ‘If’ by Roger Kipling. Those are the two that are more important to me. I’ve always done that – that (Buffalo game was) last year, but I think it’s motivation to just come in here and work every day.”

The poem 'If' was written in 1895 and it’s considered a road map to life while becoming a good person. It holds a lot of significance to the Jones family. Gordon Jones, Mac's father, first saw it when he played a Wimbledon qualifying match in 1978. The poem is above the entrance to the club and last fall, Gordon Jones told the Providence Journal, “It is a great roadmap for how both Mac and I feel how you should approach life and competition.”

'Man in the Arena' was written by Theodore Roosevelt and starts and is about how people should praise the person who's fighting the battles

“I do love the two poems a lot,” Jones said. “That’s a big shout out to my dad. He gave me those probably when I was 6-years-old. He kind of explained everything to me and as I grew I continued to enjoy that. The ‘If’ poem is in Wimbledon. That’s where he learned it – in the locker room in Wimbledon. It’s pretty cool.”

Tyquan Thornton suffers shoulder injury

Patriots rookie Tyquan Thornton has become a fan favorite as he’s had a solid first training camp.

It appears the second-round pick has hit his first hurdle.

Thornton suffered a shoulder injury on Friday night and the Patriots ruled him out during the fourth quarter.

It’s unclear when the speedy receiver suffered the injury, but it might’ve happened on his only reception against the Panthers.  Thornton caught a 13-yard pass, from Brian Hoyer, at 6:45 of the second quarter. He was tackled by safety Sean Chandler and Brandon Smith on the play.

This will be an injury to monitor as the Pats wrap up their preseason next week in Las Vegas.

Thornton’s had a solid summer and started to work his way in with Mac Jones and the starting offense. He caught two passes for nine yards and a touchdown against the New York Giants in the Pats preseason opener last week. Thornton also played some reps with Jones and the starters during the Patriots third offensive series on Friday.

Kendrick Bourne, Trent Brown others out in second preseason game

Coming off a tough week, Kendrick Bourne won’t play in the Patriots preseason game against Carolina.

On Tuesday, the receiver was kicked out of a drill by an official due to an equipment issue. You could hear Bill Belichick screaming at Bourne over the issue. Later in practice, he was ejected for fighting during the Patriots-Panthers brawl. On Wednesday, it appeared that Bourne was demoted as he practiced with the backup offense. That day saw the receiver catch passes from only Brian Hoyer and Bailey Zappe in team drills.

On Friday night, at Gillette Stadium, Bourne wasn't in uniform or at the game with the rest of the Patriots receivers.

When asked why Bourne didn't suit up, Bill Belichick said, "He wasn't available."

Bourne had a career-year with the Patriots last season, finishing with 55 receptions, 800 yards and five touchdowns. He figured to play a big role in the team’s offense this season. The events of this past week, however, have been odds and it's strange not to see Bourne on the field tonight. This situaion is one to monitor.

The Patriots are also missing Trent Brown, Isaiah Wynn, Hunter Henry, Justin Herron, Bill Murray, Kristian Wilkerson and Andrew Stueber on Friday.

With three tackles – Brown, Wynn and Herron – out, the Pats will play Michael Onwenu at right tackle and Yodny Cajuste at left tackle. Cajuste had been filling in for Wynn on the right side, but moved over with Brown out. Onwenu has been practicing at right guard with David Andrews at center and Cole Strange at left guard. With him moving to right tackle, the Pats will play James Ferentz at right guard.

Onwenu looked fantastic at tackle as a rookie in 2020. He started last season at left guard, but was benched in favor of Ted Karras. He's been a staple at right guard this offseason, but has rotated some with Arlington Hambright and Ferentz.

Mac Jones to play in second preseason game vs. Panthers

Welcome to Gillette Stadium where the Patriots will take on the Carolina Panthers in their second preseason game.

Mac Jones and the Patriots starters are scheduled to start this game after sitting out the preseason opener last week against the New York Giants. It’ll be fascinating to see how long the starting units play tonight as the Panthers will play their backups. Carolina announced that backup quarterbacks P.J. Walker and Matt Corral will play with Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold scheduled to sit.

It’ll also be worth monitoring if any bad blood follows these two teams after a difficult week of joint practices. The Patriots and Panthers had eight players ejected from two days of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. The scariest moment happened on Wednesday when Panthers safety Kenny Robinson knocked out Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson on a special teams drill. That happened a day after Robinson and Wilkerson were ejected for fighting each other on Tuesday.

Wilkerson was carted off the field and evaluated at a local hospital. According to a source, Wilkerson was diagnosed with a concussion and is doing fine but will miss this Friday night preseason game.

Stay tuned as we’ll have you updated during the night with everything that happens between the Patriots and Panthers.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Live Updates: Patriots and Mac Jones take on Panthers in preseason game