The Patriots’ preseason finale against the Commanders does not count in the standings, but it is far from meaningless for the players on the Patriots’ 90-man roster.

That’s including some of the most important players on the team, like quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye.

With the preseason shortened from four games down to three, this is one final chance to settle some training camp roster battles.

Here are six positional competitions that seem unsettled heading into Tuesday’s roster cuts.

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Jerod Mayo lays out plan for Patriots’ preseason finale before roster cutdown

Quarterback

Head coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt are still staying there’s a quarterback competition between Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye while acknowledging that Brissett is still, currently, the Patriots’ starter.

Brissett said this week that he’s still acting as if he’s the starter. Maye was talking as if Brissett is the starter this week, as well.

So, what does Sunday’s game mean? Possibly nothing. It’s entirely possible that Mayo and Van Pelt have already decided that Brissett will start Week 1.

But.

Maye has outplayed Brissett in practice for over a week now. And Maye looked better in last week’s preseason game against the Eagles. What if Brissett throws another interception? What if Maye looks even better against the Commanders than he did against the Eagles?

It seems like the only shot for Maye to actually win this QB battle. Otherwise, it’s Brissett’s job.

Wide receiver

Rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker are locks; so are veterans DeMario Douglas and K.J. Osborn. Tyquan Thornton is running with the ones and one source put it that barring unforeseen circumstances, the 2022 second-round pick will be on the roster. That leaves one or two spots for Kawaan Baker, Kayshon Boutte, Matt Landers, Jalen reagor and David Wallis, assuming Kendrick Bourne starts the season on the PUP list and will miss four games.

The top candidates for those spots are Boutte and Reagor.

New England Patriots wide receiver Jalen Reagor #83 celebrates after a punt return during the first half of the NFL pre-season game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

They both just might make it. Boutte was highlighted as a training camp standout by two team sources. And Reagor’s speed and return skills are valuable.

What could potentially push Boutte over the edge for a roster spot over Reagor is that Boutte would have to clear waivers if cut, while Reagor would not.

Offensive line

The Patriots wanted to settle their offensive line leading up to this week, but they haven’t.

Early in the week, we saw a starting unit of Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle with rookie Layden Robinson rotating in at left and right guard, Onwenu mixing in at right tackle, Okorafor playing some left tackle, Michael Jordan taking snaps at guard and rookie Caedan Wallace seeing time at left and right tackle.

By Thursday, however, with Lowe nursing an injury, Okorafor was at left tackle with Sow at left guard, Andrews at center, Robinson at right guard and Onwenu at right tackle.

That’s the preferred unit by some talent evaluators on staff.

Defensive tackle

Consider Davon Godchaux and Daniel Ekuale as locks and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. a near-lock at defensive tackle. It gets murky after that. Trysten Hill has the best chance for a fourth roster spot. Armon Watts was a favorite to make the team heading into the summer, but he’s been playing deep into preseason games. Josiah Bronson and Sam Roberts round out the group.

It’s possible that the Patriots only keep three or four defensive tackles on the initial roster and then claim a player or two off of waivers.

New England Patriots defensive end Keion White (99) and New England Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. (91) stretch as the Patriots take practice at Gillette on Aug. 22. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

But this is a good opportunity for players like Hill and Watts to shine.

Linebacker

The Patriots expected Sione Takitaki to be the team’s third linebacker, but he remains on PUP.

So, that’s left Raekwon McMillan, Christian Elliss and Joe Giles-Harris to take the bulk of backup snaps behind Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai.

There might only be room on the roster for two of those three players.

Cornerback

The Patriots will likely keep anywhere from five to seven players at cornerback after roster cuts. We know Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones will be on the team. We don’t know who else is going to make it out of Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, Marcellas Dial, Azizi Hearn, Mikey Victor, Shaun Wade or Marco Wilson.

There are strong cases for Austin, Bolden, Dial, Wade and Wilson to all be on the team. But there will be at least one odd-man out from that group.

The Patriots have said they are looking for consistency out of those players. We’ll see if Sunday’s game can settle things.