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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterOct 19, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
LONDON — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Maye energy: When first-year Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was describing what it was like being around rookie quarterback Drake Maye in the aftermath of his first career NFL start last week, he made a connection to Rob Gronkowski.
Mayo was referring to Maye’s upbeat attitude and mentality, which he also saw from Gronkowski in 2010 when the future Hall of Fame tight end joined the Patriots as a 21-year-old from the University of Arizona. Mayo was in his third season as a Patriots linebacker when Gronkowski arrived as a happy-go-lucky presence in the team’s all-business locker room.
The just-turned-22 Maye isn’t exactly “Gronk-ish,” as Mayo acknowledged in his weekly radio interview on WEEI last week, but he has brought a similar youthful energy to the team.
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And the Patriots, who face the Jaguars on Sunday at London’s Wembley Stadium (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network) as they look to end a five-game losing streak, appreciate the surge of energy.
“Absolutely. He’s a young pup. My daughters [Payton and Katherine] are 22 and 25; I put that in perspective,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “He does have that youthfulness to him, but from a pro approach, he’s doing it the right way getting himself ready every week.”
In that sense, Maye is indeed just like Gronkowski, whose relentless work ethic as his career progressed was often overlooked because of playful things like his “Nutcracker dude” touchdown celebration in London in 2012.
Veteran tight end Hunter Henry, now in his ninth NFL season, has appreciated the way Maye has integrated himself within the team — initially as a backup to 31-year-old Jacoby Brissett.
“He’s been great. Early on, he was able to sit back and observe a lot of things and learn. And now he’s kind of setting into that role as a guy,” Henry said. “He’s great in the locker room. He’s a fun guy to be around. Those relationships are only going to continue to build.”
Maye said Friday he has made a concerted effort not to change what he does now that he’s a starter. The biggest change for him has been in the huddle, asserting himself more, but instead he said he’s deferring to captains while working “to earn the respect of those guys and as we go down the road I can kind of build more and more verbally.”
Van Pelt also saw how that evolved behind the scenes.
“He’s a natural leader,” he said. “He’s a great studier, a very intelligent guy that can ask great questions in the meeting room. He’s everything you’d want in a young quarterback.
“Sitting and watching the preparation of Jacoby for the first five weeks was a big piece of that. Seeing how the quarterback room operates at the pro level and the questions that need to be asked, the concerns and comments throughout the week. I think that just helped build up his inventory of how to go through meetings and ask the questions that he needs to get answered. Very impressive with his approach.”
Question: There are lots of fans here in the UK who have yet to have an NFL team they support … What is your message for those fans on why the Patriots?
Drake Maye: “First off, I think it comes with the team name – New England.”
(The rookie is sharp on his feet.) pic.twitter.com/IJVZL5BtVH
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 18, 2024
2. Onwenu’s critique: Patriots offensive lineman Mike Onwenu, who signed a three-year, $57 million contract in the offseason, gave a straight-forward critique of his play in the team’s 1-5 start.
He said he should be better. Onwenu told ESPN two areas he’s working to address are better hand usage and engaging defenders quicker by not letting them get into his chest-plate first.
Onwenu ranks 160th among 166 qualifying offensive linemen in pass block win rate (81.1%) and 128th among 163 qualifying offensive linemen in run block win rate (67.4%), according to ESPN Analytics.
Part of his up-and-down play could be attributed to all the changes around him, as he has bounced between right tackle and right guard with the Patriots lining up with six different starting O-line configurations in the first six games.
But Onwenu, who hasn’t missed a snap this season, said that’s no excuse. He cited former Patriot Joe Thuney as an example of a player whose performance never wavered no matter what position he played, or what was happening around him, which is the standard Onwenu wants to reach.
3. No knee-d to know: Maye was added to the injury report Wednesday because of his knee, but both he and Mayo said he has looked good in practices over the last week as a full participant.
Not long after arriving in London on Friday, Maye stiff-armed questions from reporters about when the injury happened, and whether it was a residual from last Sunday’s loss to the Texans or something from Wednesday’s practice. Maye was sacked four times last week and in-game statisticians recorded eight hits. Maye was removed from the injury report later Friday evening.
“Injuries are something we don’t try to share with the media,” Maye said.
Speaking of injuries, Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson was a full participant in practice Friday and said he was trending toward playing in the team’s game against the Jaguars.
“I’m feeling good right now. I had to take a couple days off, but I’m feeling like I should be able to play on Sunday,” he said after practice.
Stevenson has been sidelined by a foot injury and is listed as questionable.
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Is there fantasy optimism for Stevenson with Maye at QB?
Field Yates explains his fantasy outlook for Rhamondre Stevenson with Drake Maye at quarterback for the Patriots.
4. Harrow-ing experience: The Patriots practiced in a historic spot upon arrival in London, at Harrow School, a boarding school founded in 1572. Veteran defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. relayed that teammates were mentioning Sir Winston Churchill as a distinguished alum of the school on the bus ride to practice.
Visitors to the 324-acre campus walked down “Football Lane” to the practice field, where rugby is one of the school’s top sports. Mayo also noted how the movie “Harry Potter” filmed a scene on campus.
5. Why not Jones? Mayo was disappointed in the Patriots’ kickoff return unit in last week’s loss, with Houston challenging to return six kickoffs and primary returner JaMycal Hasty averaging 23.8 yards per kick return with shaky blocking in front of him.
“We just didn’t show up in that phase of the game,” Mayo said.
One lingering question is why the Patriots wouldn’t use third-year pro Marcus Jones (5-foot-8, 188 pounds) in the role, as he was the team’s primary returner in 2022 before sitting out most of last season because of injury.
Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, who could consider other options Sunday including running back Antonio Gibson (6-foot, 228 pounds), cornerback Isaiah Bolden (6-2, 205 pounds) and receiver Ja’Lynn Polk (6-1, 203 pounds), explained his thought process on what he’s looking for with the NFL’s new kickoff rules.
“We’re trying to find guys that can get downhill quick. There is not a lot of movement. You might say ‘Marcus Jones is a helluva returner’, but those [returners] are getting hit and getting hit hard around the league,” Springer said. “You don’t really want a [returner] who is going to do much moving around like punt returns. It’s more straight downhill, one cut and go, be able to take a big hit. So bigger bodies are essentially what I’m looking for.”
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6. Penalty turn: The Patriots were the least penalized team in the NFL through the first four games of the season — 16 accepted flags for 172 yards. They’ve exceeded the total over the past two games — 21 accepted flags for 155 yards.
“The penalties come down to focus most of the time and lack of technique,” Mayo said. “We have to get back to what we started the season doing.”
7. Elliss’ chance: Mayo said there would be “lineup changes” this week and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington might have identified one spot when he said third-year linebacker Christian Elliss (6-2, 231 pounds) has earned a chance to play more on early downs.
Elliss’ primary role has been on special teams and his eight tackles are tied for third in the NFL. He has started to get more time on defense in passing situations in recent weeks. After playing six snaps over the first three games, he has totaled 63 over the past three.
If Elliss elevates into more of a top role Sunday, it could come at the expense of veteran Raekwon McMillan, who appeared to be out of position on two long runs in last week’s loss to the Texans. Covington said it’s a similar situation to last year when former Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. steadily saw his role increase.
8. Jacoby & Shaq: Brissett has something new hanging in his locker at Gillette Stadium, and he says it means a lot to him. It’s guard Shaq Mason‘s white Houston Texans‘ jersey.
Brissett approached Mason after last Sunday’s Patriots-Texans game and told him: “I want that jersey.”
Mason gave it to him on the spot, with Brissett returning the favor and handing over his red throwback Patriots jersey.
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“I relied on him a lot when I first got here [in 2016] and spent a lot of time with him,” Brissett said of Mason, who was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 2015. “I love to see the way his career has gone. He’s deserved everything he’s gotten. It was the first time we played against each other and were able to jersey swap.”
9. They said it: “He was a guy — I wouldn’t say we were down on — but we didn’t see him as a starter early through camp. I think the biggest thing was the way he approached practice; he really put his hard hat on and did great work — for [the offense] and scout team. His attitude was excellent and he earned the right to be on the field. I’m so proud of him for his perseverance. We were on him early and he responded well.” — Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, on Kayshon Boutte (40-yard TD last week) emerging as one of the team’s top receivers
10. Did you know? The Patriots will play in front of their largest crowd this season Sunday against the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium, where capacity is 86,857. Capacity for home games at Gillette Stadium is 64,628. Previous road games have been at the Bengals’ Paycor Stadium (65,515), the Jets’ MetLife Stadium (82,500) and 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium (68,500), with upcoming games at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium (69,143), Bears’ Soldier Field (61,500), Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium (64,767), Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium (65,000) and the Bills’ Highmark Stadium (71,621).
