FOXBORO — The third week of the preseason is always a little more intense — the starters go deeper into the game, there's more game-planning and there's a regular-season feel to much of the action.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn't indicate how much longer the starters may go Thursday against the Rams as opposed to the first two weeks of the preseason, but reminded people that this week is different for New England on a number of levels, including the fact that this will be the Patriots' first preseason game this summer where they won't have had the chance to practice against the opponent beforehand.

"I think the thing that is a little bit different this week than the last two weeks is we haven’t had those practice reps against the preseason opponent, so here we only have a certain number of plays to work with during the game," Belichick said. "The last couple of weeks we’ve had these plays plus a lot of other ones. We’ll have to divide that up and that may vary from player to player, but we’ll try to do what’s best for the player and also the team and for our evaluations."

With that in mind, here are ten things worth keeping an eye on in Thursdays' Patriots-Rams game:

Running back: The Patriots have employed a serious shuffle over the first two season games, splitting carries over the course of a half in an attempt to have a single back build up stamina and get into a rhythm. While Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris have made the most of their time, the one back who has been pretty much left out in the cold in this rotation has been Laurence Maroney, who was limited to eight carries in the preseason opener but none since then. It figures that Maroney, last year's leading rusher, will get his opportunity on Thursday. If he doesn't, it should raise serious questions about the state of the Patriots' running game and Maroney's place on New England's depth chart.

The pass rush: Thursday will mark the first preseason contest where the Patriots are slated to have their starting outside linebackers — Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess — both start the same game. (Marques Murrell started for Burgess against the Saints, and got the start for Banta-Cain last week versus the Falcons.) Even though it should be a favorable test for them — the Rams start two inexperienced players at tackle, and rookie Sam Bradford will be making his first career start — seeing the two in action together for the first time in the preseason should give us a better idea about the state of New England's pass rush, which still remains a question mark heading into 2010.
 
Wes Welker: The receiver saw six snaps in his first action of the preseason last week against the Falcons. He was targeted three times and caught two balls for 20 yards, looking good in the process as he ran a nice variety of routes. Expect that number to increase on Thursday against the Rams as the Patriots continue to ramp up his activity in advance of the regular-season opener on Sept. 12.

Rob Gronkowski: Based on practice attendance this week, the Patriots will likely be without rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was at practice on Monday and Tuesday but didn't dress. In his place, fellow rookie Rob Gronkowski got plenty of reps with the starting offense, and provided several bright spots. Hernandez flashed some nice positional versatility and good hands over the first two preseason games, and Gronkowski should get the same sort of opportunity Thursday against the Rams.

The backup offensive linemen: The starters — Matt Light, Dan Connolly, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal and Sebastian Vollmer — are pretty much locked in by this point in the preseason, and all should play deep into Thursday's game. But the positional rotation for the second- and third-string o-line remains something of a question mark. Can new No. 1 backup interior linemen Ryan Wendell and Rich Ohrnberger distinguish themselves, or will the Patriots turn to recently acquired Brian Simmons (an undrafted free agent) or Quinn Ojinnaka (a veteran recently picked up from Atlanta)? And can rookie Ted Larsen bounce back from a rough outing last Thursday against the Falcons?

Tom Brady: The quarterback built on his 17-snap performance in the preseason opener with a 24-snap outing against the Falcons where he ended up going 10-for-12 for 85 yards and a touchdown and looking very sharp in almost one half of play. This week — the last preseason action he should see — it's reasonable to expect he would play into the third quarter. Look for him to try and build an on-field chemistry with some of the younger pass catchers who are expected to play, like Rob Gronkowski.

Cornerback: Without Leigh Bodden, rookie Devin McCourty has gotten a lot of run with the starters against Atlanta (making a couple of nice plays against Roddy White and Michael Turner), and even with Bodden back on the practice field this week, the combination of McCourty and Darius Butler spent a lot of time running with the starters in the practice bubble. In the game that's universally accorded to be the exclusive domain of the starters (at least for the first three quarters or so), how much playing time McCourty receives will be a good measuring stick as to what the organization thinks of him at this stage of his development.

Kick return: In addition to his work as a cornerback, McCourty should also continue to get reps as part of the No. 1 kick return unit. Brandon Tate has also been out there as a return man early in games, but it was the two returns by the Rutgers product (a 50-yarder and a 52-yarder) that really provided the special teams highlight of the first two preseason contests. Another solid outing will go a long way toward allowing the rookie to cement the job and end a forgettable one-year return man-by-committee experiment that produced some of the worst kick return numbers in the league.

Right defensive end: While Gerard Warren is the likely starter at left defensive end, there are still questions about the state of the right side. Mike Wright is considered No. 1 at the spot right now, but Damione Lewis is also still a possibility. One thing to keep in mind — the Patriots have never been shy about shifting Vince Wilfork to end when necessary. If New England believes that a combination of Wright at the nose (a position he's played before) and Wilfork at defensive end gives them a better chance to win, they would make the move. (Probably more as a short-term, situational fix than anything else, but still, something worth pondering.)

Inside linebacker: With Gary Guyton sidelined the last couple of weeks with knee issues, rookie Brandon Spikes got the bulk of the reps on the inside next to Jerod Mayo at inside linebacker. Spikes certainly did as much as he could with the opportunity, but with Guyton's return to practice this week, will Spikes see as much game action against the Rams as he did the first two weeks?