FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – It’s not exactly a changing of the guard at cornerback, but a pair of rookies will be starting there for the New England Patriots when they begin their preseason schedule Thursday night against the New York Giants.

Second-round draft choice Eugene Wilson of Illinois and fourth-round pick Asante Samuel of Central Florida will start in place of injured veterans Ty Law and Otis Smith in the preseason opener at Gillette Stadium.

Law, in his ninth NFL season, has been limited in practice with an ankle injury. Smith, in his 14th season, is rehabilitating offseason shoulder surgery.

“They’ve moved along well,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of the rookie cornerbacks. “They’ve gotten a lot of extra reps because Ty and Otis haven’t been out there to take many. So even though it’s hurt Ty and Otis, it’s helped the other two players and they’ve taken advantage of their opportunities.

“Who’s ahead of who, we’ll start to find that out Thursday night,” Belichick said. “They’re going to be out there and they’re going to get the opportunity to go against whomever the Giants put out there, their best guys, so it will be a good evaluation for them.”

The two cornerbacks have forged a bond in training camp, helped in part by the fact that they are not competing for the same position.

“During the pre-draft period, we took a few visits together,” Samuel said. “Now we’re roommates. We help each other out with whatever we need help with.”

“When we see something that one may be doing wrong and needs help with, we try to help each other out,” Wilson said. “We’re good friends, we get along great.”

Samuel said the “buddy system” is helping both him and Wilson endure the torrent of information that characterizes training camp.

“It’s good that we’re going through the same things together,” he said. “You can’t get overwhelmed. Every day they put in something new, and you have to learn it that day and make it stick in your head, because the next day, you’re going to have 10 more things coming at you.”

Also Monday, the Patriots signed Thabiti Davis, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver from Wake Forest who spent 2000 and 2001 with the New York Giants. Most recently, he caught 16 passes for 63 yards with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.

AP-ES-08-04-03 1713EDT