Good morning, happy Sunday, and welcome back into another edition of ‘Patriots notes, quotes, & anecdotes’. We’re back with another column hitting on all of the happenings surrounding the New England Patriots.
Here we go:
— Drake Maye showed up on Thursday… so now what?
After playing just one drive and seven snaps in his NFL “debut” against the Panthers in Week 1 of the preseason, Drake Maye was put to the test in Week 2 against the Eagles — and passed.
New England’s rookie No. 3 overall pick played four offensive drives on Thursday night, turning them into 10 points and scoring a rushing touchdown in the process. Overall, finished the night with 47 yards through the air, 15 on the ground, and plenty of hope running through Patriots nation.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity,” Maye said of getting meaningful preseason reps. “I think definitely it’s the things I can clean up. I had some good things, had some bad plays. Like I said, the dropped snaps, inexcusable for me. Other than that, probably just sometimes I feel like I’m scrambling when I can probably sit in there and hang on and try to make a throw. So definitely a lot of things to learn from. Good to get out there. Like I said, I get some tape to learn from. But other than that, I thought the guys fought. I think we played hard. You can look at a lot of things, but the one thing you can’t question is our effort, and that really starts it all.”
Maye’s play on Thursday certainly warranted some first-team reps moving forward. The question now becomes: will it?
We got somewhat of an answer on Saturday as, according to multiple reports, he was given some walkthrough reps with New England’s first-team offense in a walkthrough setting.
Sunday’s practice, set for 11:00 a.m. and assumed to be higher intensity, will be the tell if there’s an actual QB competition in Foxborough.
— Matthew Judon trade officially signals rebuild alarm.
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it — the Patriots traded their best player this week.
In an unsurprising move after an animated contract dispute, New England sent LB Matthew Judon to the Falcons on Wednesday in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick.
The Pats, strapped with plenty of cap space, young talent, and an unproven head coach & front office, sent yet another sign to the NFL that they’re building for the future.
“A successful season, in my eyes, is really about the foundation,” Mayo told the media in his training camp-opening press conference just under one month ago. “Have we put together a good foundation of a combination of young and older players to really start competing? It would be great to get up here and say we’re going to win a Super Bowl, but once again, it’s about the process. I tell the guys all the time: it’s about process and progress and moving forward.”
Have there been some promising revelations in rookies Drake Maye, Ja’Lynn Polk, and even Caedan Wallace? Absolutely. But ultimately, this is team for 2025 & beyond — something I’ve been saying from the start.
— Ja’Lynn Polk = Randy Moss?
Speaking of promising rookies, second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk made somewhat of a statement prior to Thursday night’s preseason game, showing up to Gillette Stadium in a Patriots Randy Moss jersey:
1 rocking 81.@jpolk_22 | @RandyMoss pic.twitter.com/yzr7YG8DxK
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 15, 2024
Moss himself, in a quote-tweet, even showed his support to the fellow wide receiver:
“Bring em out their seats 2nite young man!!” he wrote on X. “GO GET IT!”
Bring em out their seats 2nite young man!!GO GET IT! https://t.co/z2pxvHSXYB
— Randy Moss (@RandyMoss) August 15, 2024
— Roster moves
The Patriots made the following transactions this past week:
- Re-signed RB Deshaun Fenwick
- Released DE John Morgan III
- Traded LB Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2024 3rd-round pick
— Robert Kraft speaks on Patriots’ new regime.
In an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak and Bertrand this past week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke on the changes the Patriots made this offseason:
Robert Kraft on the #Patriots turning over to a new regime this season (via @ZoandBertrand):
"Last Thursday night I went over to Jerod [Mayo] and shook his hand and I said, 'First time in 25 years I can say to someone we're ready to build some new great chapters'.
And, you…
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) August 13, 2024
“Last Thursday night I went over to Jerod [Mayo] and shook his hand and I said, ‘First time in 25 years I can say to someone we’re ready to build some new great chapters’. And, you know we were so lucky to have Bill [Belichick] for the 24-year period and what we were able to accomplish here and the culture and we’re — I don’t know what our record’s gonna be this year, but I’m very excited about what’s going on right here at this level between… having seen how Jerod and Eliot [Wolf] and Matt Groh and the new coaches… I’ve been worried about how things would get integrated here and I’m really proud the way it’s coming out… What’s really good is everyone’s on the same page and knows we’re trying to build something special.”
Thanks for reading! We’ll talk to ya next week.
Follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
