Almost seven full months removed from the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots are finally preparing for a meaningful game again. On Wednesday night, they will participate in the 2026 regular season opener against the very same Seattle Seahawks who beat for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in January.
Naturally, all of our attention this coming week will be on that game. For now, however, let’s clean out our notebook from the week that was. Welcome to the final offseason addition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Tough love shaped A.J. Brown’s leadership
Even though he is not among the six players voted captains for 2026, wide receiver A.J. Brown nonetheless will hold a leadership role within the team this season. He is, after all, among the Patriots’ most experienced players and somebody who has had a long relationship with head coach Mike Vrabel.
That relationship has helped shape Brown’s leadership style and maturation process since he entered the league as a second-round draft pick in 2019.
“Early on, he was just so tough on me, and I didn’t really understand it as a young player,” said Brown about the mentoring he received from Vrabel while both were with the Tennessee Titans. “Now, I know the expectation that I have for myself and the expectation that he has for me. It comes from a good place.”
Having been on the receiving end of Vrabel’s tough love to start his NFL career, Brown knows what to expect. He consequently uses his own experience to help his younger teammates in New England.
One of those is outside linebacker Gabe Jacas.
“Vrabes was on him really tough,” said Brown. “I’ll be sitting in my chair laughing just to see that process, witness it all over again. I went and had a couple words with Gabe to keep him locked in. I hope that my words help.”
Brown’s leadership did not develop overnight but rather bit by bit over his first seven years as a pro. Vrabel was part of three of those before the wideout was shipped from Tennessee to Philadelphia in a 2022 draft-day trade.
But while the two men kept in contact even while apart, it took their reunion earlier this offseason for Vrabel to get another up-close look at Brown’s development as not just a football player but off the field as well. What he saw left him impressed.
“The maturity has been probably what I have appreciated seeing on a daily basis,” he said. “We had A.J. as a young player, continued that relationship personally, and I could sense that he was growing and making strides in that regard. But having him here, seeing him each and every day, the way that he communicates and where he’s at in the training room, just seeing his daily routine and the way that he talks to the young receivers or the way that he communicates with Todd [Downing], Josh [McDaniels] or the quarterback, I would say that that’s probably a little different than the day-to-day person I saw as a young player.”
For Brown himself, it’s all part of the job — one that will look different in 2026, after his trade from the Eagles to the team he has been rooting for since his childhood.
“I’m super excited,” he said on Saturday. “I literally looked at the sign today, saying, ‘I’m a Patriot.’ I’m still in awe. I’m grateful. I’m excited.”
Captains not the only team leaders
While Brown was not voted a captain by his peers, six of his teammates were: quarterback Drake Maye, tight end Hunter Henry, offensive tackle Morgan Moses, linebacker Robert Spillane, cornerback Marcus Jones and safety Kevin Byard. They will lead the team, but as Mike Vrabel explained, are not the only ones with leadership responsibilities.
“Those guys have, since I have been here, the five that were here last year were great leaders, very consistent players, very consistent demeanor in their preparation and the type of teammates that they were,” said Vrabel.
“We added Kevin this year, so I am always appreciative of those guys that lead. We will have a leadership group as well that will assist them, and again, we will meet. But, it is not like we have to have a standard meeting for them to approach me and talk about something.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the league, two ex-Patriots were voted captains with their respective teams. Long snapper Joe Cardona is a captain with the Rams, while kicker Nick Folk is one with the Falcons. The expectation is that offensive linemen Joe Thuney and Ted Karras will also receive the honor with the Bears and Bengals, respectively.
Patriots need to put their money where their mouth is
Without direct inside knowledge, it is hard to assign blame between the Patriots and Christian Gonzalez’s camp for the stalled contract extension negotiations. However, based on what has been reported so far, it seems as if the pact’s structure is an issue that has not yet been resolved. Rumor has it that the team’s publicly-stated desire to make Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in football is not just lip service, but that they are less enthusiastic about the guarantees.
For a team has twice stated its intentions publicly from the highest ranks — through owner Robert Kraft and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf — that is a disappointing approach. Sure, there is a fiscal element to it the organization needs to consider, but overall the reporting so far has made it sound like the Patriots are doing half-measures rather than committing full-on to a player who has a strong case as the best on the roster.
If true, this sends a concerning message to Gonzalez and possibly even the next big name to enter the negotiating table, quarterback Drake Maye. In order not to cause any further issues, the Patriots need to put their money where their mouth is and compensate their home-grown blue-chip cornerback according to his value: at the top of his position in more ways than total value.
How the Patriots use their money
Gonzalez’s contract extension, if it happens, will change the Patriots’ contractual outlook for the future and possibly the 2026 season as well. If so, the following outlook — courtesy by NFL analyst Sebastian Carl using numbers from Over the Cap — might be changing.
For now, however, here is how the Patriots use their money heading into this year’s regular season:
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One change compared to the last two years is the Patriots having a contract qualify for the “elite” category, defined as a one of the top 32 cap hits in the NFL. The honor belongs to defensive tackle Milton Williams, whose $28.5 million cap figure ranks 23rd in the league this season.
The joys of the practice squad
While most of the attention during and after cutdown weekend was reserved for the men on the 53-man roster, they are not the only ones happy with the eventual outcome of training camp. For others, including undrafted rookie wide receiver Cameron Dorner, even making the practice squad is a win.
“I can’t stop smiling,” Dorner said this week. “I’m happy to be here. It was one of the best moments of my life, all the hard work that I put in. I can’t complain. All the coaches here have been super great to me, pushing me to be the best player I can, also be a better man off the field. It was a it was a pretty cool moment for me.”
Flanked by sophomores
The Patriots moved some pieces around on the left side of the offensive line, inserting veteran free agency signing Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard. But while he is being flanked by two sophomore players in tackle Will Campbell and center Jared Wilson, he doesn’t feel like he is playing with relatively inexperienced players.
“It doesn’t feel like I’m playing next to a Year 2 player with [Campbell] and Jared,” he said.
Vera-Tucker was particularly complimentary of Campbell and his development.
“It’s been really cool,” he said. “He makes my job easier and I hope I make his easier as well. But very talented, great with communication out there.”
Complimentary defense to address edge concerns
Arguably no position on the Patriots’ roster has created as much uncertainty this summer as the defensive edge. Starter and team captain Harold Landry remains on the PUP list, while veteran free agency pickup Dre’Mont Jones is being joined in the room by second-year man Elijah Ponder and a pair of rookies, Gabe Jacas and Quintayvious Hutchins.
Naturally, the Patriots’ ability to generate pressure has been questions throughout training camp and preseason. However, for head coach Mike Vrabel it’s not necessarily about who will bring the heat but rather how it will be done within the grand scheme of New England’s defense.
“It’ll be important that we get great effort in affecting the quarterback from everybody,” he said. “It’s just not one position, it’s how well they work with each other. When we’re rushing, how well do they work with Milt [Milton Williams] or Christian [Barmore] or whoever else is inside of them, how well we pressure, or how well we cover. The better we cover, the better chance that we have to get home, and the quicker we get there, the better the chance that somebody in coverage can make a play.
“It all works together. Sometimes that doesn’t work. Sometimes they complete them, but there are times where we work together to affect the quarterback. There are times where we work together to work on ball disruption.”
169 moves
As noted above, this edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes it the final one while the NFL is officially in its 2026 offseason. For the Patriots, that offseason was a busy one: between signing a group of players to futures contracts after the Super Bowl and a minor practice squad move earlier this week, the team made a combined 169 transactions — all of them with the goal of creating a 53-man roster that will again compete for a championship.
September 11 commemorations
With the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks coming up, the NFL will commemorate the event during Week 1. While the Patriots will not play on the actual weekend of the anniversary, their game versus the Seahawks will also be part of the league’s remembrance efforts.
The field in Seattle will feature “Never Forget” stencils in the end zone, while players and coaches on both sides will wear special 9/11-themed T-shirts during pregame warmups. The coin toss will also feature a commemorative coin, while victims will be honored before the game.
“As the NFL family reflects on this day 25 years later, we remember those who were taken from us and support those who continue to carry the pain of that day,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement.
Week ahead
The wait will finally come to an end this week. It’s time for some real NFL football, and the Patriots will help get things started: they and the Seahawks will open the 2026 season on Wednesday night at Seattle’s Lumen Field. The 8:20 p.m. ET contest will be the first in New England’s franchise history played on a Wednesday.
Leading up to the game, the Patriots will practice two more times — on Sunday and Monday — before a Tuesday walkthrough and subsequent flight to Seattle. The team will then enjoy four days off before entering a more traditional Sunday-to-Sunday schedule.
