FOXBORO — The day before the Patriots’ preseason opener, Jacoby Brissett sat at the end of a long, brown table inside a windowless conference room at team headquarters.

The sign outside read: “War Room.”

In reality, it was more like Catchup Corner.

A safe space, even though most other occupants identified as media and had come bearing questions. Brissett plopped into his chair around 2:30 p.m. to chat with all of the broadcasters and lead producers of the Patriots’ upcoming exhibition against Carolina. He knew none of his secrets would be spilled or quotes held against him because trust is the unspoken standard of these production meetings.

Brissett could also take comfort in this: most of these media were friends.

Former Patriots defensive backs Devin and Jason McCourty sat to his right, taking notes. One-time quarterback Brian Hoyer reclined to his left, just a high-five away. Scott Zolak, ex-Patriots quarterback, current radio analyst and talk-show host, strolled in halfway through, quickly settling into a chair at the far end, then a big grin.

Together, Zolak, Hoyer and the McCourtys were preparing to form the first players-only booth on a Patriots telecast; a new format to replace the traditional play-by-play that details the the minutiae of a meaningless game.

“I think the people who are watching this game are Patriot fans, and they want to know who’s going to play left tackle, who’s going to be the fifth receiver, who’s the third running back. That’s what these games are for,” said Matt Smith, executive producer at Kraft Sports Productions and the New England Patriots.

“How can we have an interesting discussion about who makes the team? … That’s the real genesis behind this (idea).”

The Patriots, mostly, pulled it off.

An unscientific Herald poll with almost 1,000 votes on X/Twitter showed 70.3% of responders rated the broadcast positively. Pockets of extended silence created fair fuel for critics, as did the failure to identify new Patriots players early in the game. Smith also left the night with his own to-fix list.

Patriots broadcast team members Scott Zolak, standing, Jason McCourty, left, and Devin McCourty in the booth before the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

But overall, viewers were treated to something rare in a normally sterile broadcast setting: actual Patriots intel within an honest and loose conversation about the team, by the team. Devin and Jason shared details about coaches’ thoughts and players’ preparation, having visited practice, team meeting rooms and the locker room the day before. They balanced these insights with in-game criticisms, brotherly ribbing and self-deprecation.

The McCourtys’ chemistry, plus Zolak’s energy and levity, served as the broadcast’s lifeblood.

“It’s four ballers sitting around with Paul Perillo,” Zolak cracked midway through the first half, referring to the Patriots’ longtime scribe and preseason commentator who worked with Hoyer in a separate studio.

Ahead of the broadcast, the Herald requested and received behind-the-scenes access to the booth and television truck. Here is a running account of the Patriots’ first players-only telecast Thursday night:

Pregame

6:01 p.m. Welcome to the Gillette Stadium broadcast booth.

It overlooks the 50-yard line from the main concourse level behind the visitors bench, above the 100-level seats and tucked underneath the 200-level luxury stands. The TV booth neighbors other rooms reserved for local radio and visiting broadcast teams.

After taking a 6 a.m. train from New Jersey on Wednesday, Devin and Jason sit facing the field and at the table where they will deliver their call of Patriots-Panthers. Behind them, a seven-member production crew waits, with the main camera and standing all lights in place. Zolak leaves for a pregame radio spot with pals at 98.5 The Sports Hub.

6:03 p.m. Among the crew is a director, cameraman, statistician and a spotter. The spotter’s job is to identify the most relevant players on every play – mainly tackler and ball carriers – then hold a flash card with the players’ names in case the broadcasters can’t identify them right away.

Jason McCourty signs an autograph for a young fan as brother Jason McCourty looks on before the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Tonight’s spotter is an ex-FBI agent with more than 30 years of experience working Patriots games. He says Bob Socci, the Patriots’ radio play-by-play voice, is among the best he’s ever worked with. Socci needs him once a game, if that.

6:06 p.m. Down on the field, Patriots outside linebacker Matthew Judon walks behind Carolina’s bench in his usual red hoodie and plays catch with fans in the stands. Players have begun to warm up behind him, indicating Judon will be among the handful of Patriots starters to sit tonight.

6:08 p.m. Devin, now alone in the booth, wants his old teammate’s attention. “Judon!” he screams from more than 35 rows up. “Juuuu-doooon!”

This goes on for 30 seconds. No luck.

6:09 p.m. Devin’s playful screaming instead catches the attention of a little girl, whose face pops up in his line of sight. She’s been hoisted on her father’s shoulders with the hope of getting an autograph. The McCourtys, including Jason who just returned, oblige.

6:18 p.m. Zolak returns, and wants to tape a piece of paper below the camera, reminders for his pregame segment. Remember: his job is to play point guard tonight. This paper outlines their first set play.

“New coach, new quarterback”

From left, Patriots preseason broadcasters Devin McCourty, Scott Zolak and Jason McCourty. (Andrew Callahan/Boston Herald)

6:20 p.m. Zolak and the McCourtys lean against their shared desk, backs to the field and facing the camera, each with a microphone in hand. Their combined posture gives the broadcast the casual feel it’s aiming before. Four minutes of focused silence follow, then break when Zolak wants a nearby fan tilted in his direction.

It’s hot in here.

6:25 p.m. “Goo — good evening!” Zolak begins. “We’re gonna have some fun tonight.”

Zolak covers his initial stumble with humor, confessing he confused the McCourty twins up earlier in the day before teeing them up to answer pre-planned questions about Jerod Mayo and the quarterback situation. Both are concise, clear and energetic in their answers.

6:28 p.m. The crew continues taping, with one small problem: the smell of smoke has permeated the room. A clothespin holding colored paper over one of the lights is releasing a wisp of smoke, pressed too close to the searing heat of the light.

Ex-Panthers receiver Steve Smith, serving as an analyst for Carolina’s broadcast team next door, pops his head in: “You know that s— is burning, right?”

Everyone does. No one answers. The show must go on, at least for a few more seconds.

6:29 p.m. Finally off-air, Zo admits to his stumble. Jason reminds him, in essence, it’s the preseason for everyone. As they chat, the burnt clothespin is replaced.

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6:45 p.m. Time to tape the opening of the game broadcast. Go time.

6:45:36 p.m. Wait. The new clothespin is burning now. A decision is made to remove the colored paper altogether from the trouble-making light, the most powerful and least used on set.

6:47 p.m. Zolak starts: “Welcome to Gillette Stadium everybody!” He’s sharp this time, and up front again about the new dynamic in the booth. “This is going to be a different broadcast.”

6:57 p.m. The introduction went well, which gives all three of them more time to pore over notes and study the rain-soaked scene in front of them. Ex-Patriots safety Patrick Chung is introduced as the “Keeper of the Light,” and rings the bell from atop the stadium lighthouse. Both McCourtys hunch over to get a glimpse of their former teammate.

7:03 p.m. Kickoff is four minutes away. Zolak turns to his right: “All right, boys. Let’s go.” Fist bumps all around.

First half

Patriots preseason broadcasters Scott Zolak, Devin McCourty and Jason McCourty call Thursday’s opener with help from a statistician, left, and spotter, right. (Andrew Callahan/Boston Herald)

7:08 p.m. After Joey Slye’s opening kickoff, Jason seizes on the first third-down analysis, describing Deatrich Wise’s sack that forces a Panthers three-and-out. Devin mentions something Mayo told them in the production meeting: it’s all about third downs in the NFL.

7:11 p.m. In the middle of making another point, Devin seamlessly flips from commentator into play-by-play man as Rhamondre Stevenson zips around the right end for a first down. Jason reveals the run game will be the Patriots’ offensive identity: “That’s what they want to stick to, the run game, to open everything else up for this young football team.”

7:12 p.m. The reason for the Patriots’ run-first preference surfaces almost immediately. After Brissett throws two incompletions in the rain, the starting offense faces a third-and-10. Devin adds: “This is a situation this team doesn’t want to be in.”

The Patriots punt.

7:15 p.m. Between breaks, Zolak shares he’ll open with an ad read when they come out of commercial. Producer Fran Morison, a 30-year veteran with FOX Sports, communicates with the three of them throughout the broadcast, but especially Zolak. Morison sits in a TV truck parked in the bowels of the stadium, along with several other producers, engineers and crew members.

7:19 p.m. Carolina has punted again, and Drake Maye enters to loud applause during another commercial break, cuing the broadcast team to bring in Hoyer from the “Bob’s Discount Furniture” studio, also located inside the stadium. It’s quiet in the booth until play resumes.

7:22 p.m. Back on air, Zolak pulls Hoyer in and asks about operational challenges for a rookie like Maye. Whoops. There’s a false start by right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor.

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7:24 p.m. The conversation turns to the wordiness of the Patriots’ new offense, a challenge for Maye, who ran a simple college offense, just completed a 13-yard screen pass to a thus far unidentified running back (it was Antonio Gibson).

“Brian, what do you call that in this West Coast offense? What would the terminology be?” Zolak asks of the screen pass. “Because I have no clue.”

Hoyer rattles off 15 words of jargon in response, shortly before the Patriots punt again and Maye’s night is over.

7:30 p.m. Back from another break, Zolak shares he’s seen criticism of his broadcast on social media. Devin steps in: “You gotta get off that Zo!”

7:31 p.m. Devin drops a gem on outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings, an excellent run defender: “In the meeting rooms, (the coaches) always talked about how he already set the edge on Wednesday because (opponents) knew no one gets outside of him when they run the ball.”

7:43 p.m. Later, backup outside linebacker Oshane Ximines loses the edge against the run and allows a long Carolina gain. Devin calls it out: “You always have to stay outside as a defense. (Defensive coordinator) Demarcus Covington is going to talk about that early tomorrow.”

Patriots linebacker Oshane Ximines tackles Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette during the first half Thursday. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

7:52 p.m. More run-game conversation raises the suggestion that Mike Onwenu, who’s only practiced and played at guard so far this summer, could move back to right tackle. Coincidence or intel?

7:58 p.m. After Zolak and the McCourtys discuss the coaches’ plans for the offensive line, rookie receiver Javon Baker has his first NFL target batted away and the other sail behind him. Jason correctly diagnoses that Bailey Zappe wanted the rookie to stop on a back-shoulder throw instead of continuing on a go route.

8:02 p.m. Backup cornerback Shaun Wade drops an interception on Carolina’s next series, allowing Jason to shine again by highlighting Wade’s technique and bust on Devin for dropping a few picks himself.

8:16 p.m. Play has slowed since a Kevin Harris touchdown run put the Patriots up 7-0 midway through the second quarter. Jason runs the telestrator after a Ximines strip sack, while Devin explains how Ximines got through with a speed-to-power move; something the coaches have loved so far in camp.

8:31 p.m. A back-in-my-day conversation about tape study invades the broadcast, something the three of them had committed to avoiding early in the broadcast.

8:37 p.m. Zolak calls on Hoyer to ask how he’d divide quarterback reps for the rest of the game. The Patriots take a 7-0 lead into the locker room.

Second half

From left, Patriots preseason broadcasters Scott Zolak, Devin McCourty and Jason McCourty. (Andrew Callahan/Boston Herald)

8:50 p.m. “Let’s get those plates of food out of there, fellas.”

Inside the truck, Morison and the producers are counting Zolak and the McCourtys down to their return from commercial, asking them to take their dinner out of the shot before they go live.

It’s hectic here, cramped. The truck, unlike the broadcast booth, is a professional kitchen without food. Orders fly front to back, back to front and side to side all game. Everything is communicated in short-hand and with urgency.

The truck is a windowless space with wood paneling, sound-proofed ceiling and a wall of monitors at the front.  Roughly a dozen people are packed inside, producers near the wall of screens at the front, engineers and tape operators in the back.

More than 20 smaller TVs reveal every camera feed available to producers, while main screens in the middle show the live broadcast. The five producers are seated in two short rows, three up front, two behind. The closest sit within arm’s reach of the TVs. The second half is almost upon them.

Mayo is standing on the sideline wearing a headset, ready to be interviewed. The head coach can’t be kept waiting.

“Mayo now, I need Mayo!”

8:52 p.m. “Now let’s go to (the) Muppets!”

An old joke in the truck. More than a decade ago, Perrillo and former Patriots writer Andy Hart, now a WEEI personality, would bring live commentary from the ramps of Gillette Stadium during preseason broadcasts. That location earned them the nickname “Muppets” from Morison; a nod to the world’s most famous balcony ball-busters, Statler and Waldorf.

FOXBORO MA – September 15: Brian Hoyer #5 of the New England Patriots takes off his helmet during practice at Gillette Stadium on September 15, 2022 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

Despite Hart’s departure, and Hoyer’s new arrival, the nickname has stuck, and its mention means Zolak should bring Perillo and pals into the conversation. The Muppets are now on screen.

8:54 p.m. Hoyer makes a point about how the centers set protections in the Patriots offense now, a change from previous systems under Josh McDaniels and Bill O’Brien. Play continues, which the broadcasters can ignore so long as they carry on good conversation. The truck, however, cannot.

“At the line now.”

The camera returns to the field. The play ends.

“Shout out those replays, fellas!”

“Let’s go to Y (camera). Let’s go to Y.  I need Y!”

A replay appears. More orders, fast and furious.

8:57 p.m. On air, Devin makes a joke about how Mayo cashed in as a rookie under the NFL’s old collective bargaining agreement, which made first-round picks some of the league’s highest-paid players. It brings laughter and fleeting levity to the truck.

8:58 p.m. “Let’s go to Mayo, then Wolf. How about RKK?”

It’s time to tee up previously recorded clips of the Patriots’ leadership. The crew wants to bring up Robert Kraft, too, but timing is an issue. They wait on Kraft, and roll with Mayo and Wolf video.

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9:05 p.m. There’s another call for the Muppets to open up the conversation during an increasingly dull game.

A flag goes down. One of the producers calls out the penalty almost instantly after it’s announced, allowing the broadcasters to make the call and the graphics team to do their jobs, all within seconds.

9:09 p.m. The producers call down to WBZ’s Steve Burton, who’s working as tonight’s sideline reporter. After interviewing Brissett in the first half, the first in-game player interview ever for a Patriots preseason game, Burton will interview Wise late in the third quarter, something Zolak teased heading into the last commercial,

9:10 p.m. One issue: Wise isn’t in view of the camera, and 30 seconds are left in the commercial break. Wise wants to watch the defense play. He won’t be interviewing just yet.

9:17 p.m. Finally, after a Carolina punt and another strong return by Patriots returner David Wallis, Wise joins Burton on the sideline between drives. But there’s another problem: Joe Milton III, the rocket-armed rookie quarterback, is taking the field. He’s a story.

“Do we go to Wise or stick with Milton?”

The truck chooses Milton, as the broadcast returns.

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9:19 p.m. “Go to Wise or stay with Milton?”

“Will Wise wait?”

“I don’t know!”

“Stay with Milton.”

9:21 p.m. Wise waits it out. He interviews well, taking questions about Milton and his defense. The truck is relieved. It’s time for the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got Milton the rest of the game,” one producer says.

Another replies: “Yep. We’re golden.”

Wise waves to Zolak and the McCourtys from the field, sending everyone into another break of a 7-0 game.

9:40 p.m. Milton throws a 38-yard touchdown pass to JaQuae Jackson, his first as a pro. It’s the highlight of the night, which ends in a 17-3 Patriots win. Milton’s dad, his only immediate family in attendance, cheers. Joe Milton II is a lifelong 49ers fan who recently converted to pull for the Pats.

It’s a night of firsts, in the stands, on the field and in the booth.