The Patriots lost to the Texans, 20-9 in their first preseason game on Thursday night. Here are five players that stood out:

Keion White: The Patriots’ second round pick was a monster on the defensive line against Houston. White consistently generated pressure against the pass and run. He had three tackles, a quarterback hit, and helped force a second quarter fumble that was recovered by Calvin Munson.

Jalen Mills: Mills played safety for the Patriots to start the game, a position he is familiar with from his time with the Eagles. He had an interception off C.J. Stroud on the first drive of the game, which he returned for 13 yards. Mills has a real shot to be one of the Patriots starting safeties in Week 1.

Tyquan Thornton: Thornton has had a quiet training camp overall, but he made the most of his time during the first preseason game. He had two catches for 31 yards including a great leaping catch for 27 yards. He had good releases against man coverage and did not get pushed around, which was a concern for him in college and last season.

Concerning OL Depth: Going outside the norm here, but a major thing that stood out was that many of the Patriots reserve offensive linemen did not play well, especially on the interior. Patriots quarterbacks were constantly under pressure from the second quarter on and the running backs had few open lanes. The Patriots finished with nine first downs, 180 total yards, three sacks for 16 yards lost and 78 rushing yards for 3.1 yards per carry. Malik Cunningham had 34 of those rushing yards late in the fourth quarter.

Malik Cunningham:  Cunningham, a star quarterback at Louisville, is a dynamic athlete who played wide receiver early in the game and took over at quarterback in the fourth quarter. Cunningham led the Patriots to their only touchdown of the night, a nine-yard scramble by Cunningham. While far from polished as a quarterback, he brought some excitement to the Gillette Stadium crowd and looked like a player that could be valuable as a practice squad quarterback/ athlete while he develops.