A little good, a lot bad, mostly ugly

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The biggest takeaway from the New England Patriots' 7-6 preseason-opening win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday at Gillette Stadium was not to take too much away from it at all.

"I don't want to get too up or too down on anything," coach Bill Belichick said after the uninspiring game that tested even the most die-hard fan to maintain interest from start to finish.

There was some good. There was some bad. And the football was certainly ugly at times.

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Jim Rogash/Getty ImagesPatriots rookie Chandler Jones, right, was a disruptive force against Drew Brees' Saints.

But if recent history has taught us anything, it's to be careful reading too much of anything into preseason results, so in the spirit of the "don't get too up, don't get too down" mantra of Belichick, let's break down the good, the bad and the ugly.

Good: First-round draft choice Chandler Jones

"He definitely looks the part, a good physical specimen," Bushrod said. "It was a battle out there. I think he has a bright future ahead of him."

Bad: Left tackle Nate Solder and the offensive line

"I got to do better than that," said Solder, who played the entire first half (42 snaps). "It's just learn and move on."

Solder wasn't alone. The entire line was spotty.

Ugly: Linebacker Dane Fletcher's injury

What will the Patriots be missing without Fletcher?

The third-year linebacker started Thursday night at middle linebacker in place of Brandon Spikes and projected to a top reserve role during the season, as well as a contributor on special teams. Given Spikes' recent injury history, Fletcher (22 percent of the defensive snaps in 2011) was a reliable insurance policy.

Veteran Bobby Carpenter, second-year player Jeff Tarpinian and first-year man Mike Rivera get bumped up the depth chart. When Fletcher left Thursday's game, rookie Dont'a Hightower moved to middle linebacker and Carpenter came on to play the weak side.

Good: Defense producing two three-and-outs against Saints' top offense

But on Thursday, the new-look Patriots defense produced solid early results with two three-and-outs to open the game before Drew Brees departed.

"It seemed like they were a little more exclusively 4-3 from what we saw out there," Brees said. "They stopped us on two series, and we weren't too happy about that."

Jones and Rob Ninkovich were the starting ends, with tackles Vince Wilfork and Kyle Love on the interior. Fletcher was initially at middle linebacker, flanked by rookie Hightower (strong side) and Jerod Mayo (weak side). The secondary was comprised of cornerbacks Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington, and safeties Patrick Chung and Steve Gregory.

In the sub defense, which produced both third-down stops, defensive backs Tavon Wilson and Ras-I Dowling came on for linebackers Fletcher and Hightower.

Bad: Quarterback Ryan Mallett's accuracy

He didn't get much help on the interception -- right guard Dan Connolly got knocked back into him and Mallett might have been hit on the helmet -- but some of the other throws were well off the mark or came in too hot when they required more touch.

In the battle for the backup quarterback job, neither Mallett nor Brian Hoyer separated himself. Hoyer led the game's only touchdown drive, which was aided by the strong running of Shane Vereen, but overall the offense wasn't on its game.

Ugly: Preseason football

"We probably won't win too many games out there the way we played," receiver Jabar Gaffney said.

The Saints could say the same thing.

"Obviously there are a lot of things we have to work on, but we're under way," Belichick said. "Hopefully we can build on tonight and have a good week next week and start piling things up so we'll be ready to go on opening day."

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Mike Reiss

ESPN New England Patriots reporter

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• Covered Patriots since 1997
• Joined ESPN in 2009