The New England Patriots managed to return to .500 in impressive fashion last Sunday. Now, their biggest challenge of the season so far awaits: the team of head coach Mike Vrabel will take on the Buffalo Bills in a primetime meeting on Sunday night.
Naturally, most of our attention this week was on that particular game. That is not the full extent of stories coming out of Foxborough and indeed the NFL over the last few days.
And so, let’s clean out the notebook in another edition of our Sunday Patriots
Notes.
Drake Maye stands out among NFL sophomore QBs
Sunday’s game against the Bills will mark Drake Maye’s 17th career start, meaning that the 2024 first-round draft pick will soon have a full regular season’s worth of starts on his résumé. So far, the Patriots can feel good about where he is at: Maye appears to be progressing nicely and so far this season has shown signs of a true sophomore jump under new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
In fact, his development in 2025 looks a lot more encouraging than that of other second-year passers in the league. The following post by Fantasy Life’s Ian Hartitz illustrates this: Maye is the only QB out of that group in the top 10 in expected points added per dropback.
sThe difference between Maye and his peers becomes even more dramatic when outlined as follows. His total EPA of 47.10 this season is significantly ahead of second-placed Bo Nix at roughly the same number of plays. And while the rest of the group is progressing on a horizontal plane, the arrow for New England’s passer has started pointing in the right direction.
Steven Patton (@pattonanalytics)" />
Obviously, the sample size is rather small at this early stage in the season; it also remains to be seen how Maye will fare against a team like the Bills, who will present his toughest test so far. Nonetheless, out of the teams to invest in a quarterback early in 2024, the Patriots can probably feel the best so far.
Rising star Vinny DePalma
While Terrell Williams officially remains the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, his recent cancer diagnosis has forced the team to shuffle the deck on that side of the ball. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr has been right in the middle of this process, moving up to acting DC and game-day play-caller.
Meanwhile, Vinny DePalma has also played a big if less prominent role. The defensive assistant has helped free up Kuhr to focus on helping take over for Williams.
“I think Vinny’s done a fantastic job taking a big step,” said linebacker Jack Gibbens. “He got a great opportunity and he’s definitely crushing it. I mean, he puts in the work. He cares about the guys. He’s there for us anything we need. Can’t say enough good things about Vinnie. He’s doing an amazing job.”
A former linebacker at Boston College, DePalma joined the Patriots under previous head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024. He was one of the few assistants retained by Mike Vrabel this offseason.
Returning to Buffalo
Stefon Diggs is no stranger to Highmark Stadium. Spending four seasons in Buffalo, he appeared in a combined 39 regular season and playoff games in the Bills’ home arena.
Sunday will mark his return to Orchard Park in what will be the Patriots’ final trip to the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. For Diggs, it will be one of emotion and excitement.
“The guys that I’ve maintained a relationship with, I’m looking forward to seeing them,” Diggs explained this week. “But it’s going to be a little bit emotional. I try to keep the main thing the main thing, but it’s my first time back there. You know, it’s going to be a hell of an atmosphere. I was a part of that for a long time. I played there before I got here. I’m excited.”
Diggs started his career in Minnesota before getting traded to the Bills in 2020. Over the next four years, he became the team’s No. 1 wide receiver and quarterback Josh Allen’s go-to weapon. However, he was traded to the Houston Texans in 2024 and after tearing his ACL in October found his way to the Patriots as a free agent.
Now, for the first time since leaving Buffalo, he is headed back to his former home.
“It is a huge thing for me. I got a lot of respect and I got a lot of love for that city and that fan base and even the players over there. On social media, we still take jabs at each other, support each other, but it’s just going to be so nice to see those guys. You know, for me, I try to be as professional, but obviously I hold them near and dear to my heart. Football means a lot to me. And the guys that I spent a lot of time with over there, I’m going to give them a big hug.”
How Doug Marrone keeps finding motivation
Stefon Diggs is not the only ex-Bill making his return on Sunday. Patriots offensive line coach Doug Marrone was the team’s head coach in 2013 and 2014, earning a 15-17 record before stepping down in light of an ownership change.
Over a decade later, he is still going strong. While no longer a head coach, his services are still popular. So, how does the 61-year-old continue finding motivation?
“The best part has always been about the teaching,” he said. “To be able to work with individuals, with different types of skillsets, and then what you try to do is go out there and have five players [as] one – knowing that for us, all five of us have to win to be successful. And if one loses, then it breaks down. My greatest joy to see is when you’re working with players, and they go out there and it hits them and they do well. I feel excited for them. I think that’s the thing that makes you keep coming back to it – seeing that, and the development of players.
“A lot of the players I coached are now coaching in the NFL. To see them, and remember when they first walked in the building — how they were, how they worked, how they studied, then how they played and performed, and watching them go on and basically grow up and be able to pass that down and to give that to someone else — that’s the great part of coaching. I feel fortunate here, not only just the players I have, but I have two guys I work with that are outstanding. They help me as much as I hope I help them.”
The “two guys” mentioned by Marrone are his assistant offensive line coaches, Jason Houghtaling and Robert Kugler. Together with their boss, they are charged with rebuilding what was one of the worst offensive lines in football last year.
No complaints from Will Campbell
As part of their efforts to rebuild their O-line, the Patriots invested early-round draft selections in tackle Will Campbell and interior lineman Jared Wilson. On Sunday against Buffalo, they will make their fourth start next to each: first-rounder Campbell at left tackle, with third-rounder Wilson returning to his left guard spot after a one-week absence.
Campbell in particular has been in the spotlight this season given his status as the fourth overall selection in this year’s draft. His fellow rookie likes what he has seen so far.
“I love Will. It’s really fun playing next to him,” said Wilson. “He’s had a great four games. He brings good energy on the sideline and on the field. It’s it’s a great experience playing next to him. …
“He’s just a guy that comes in day in day out. Doesn’t really complain. Doesn’t complain at all, and just comes to work. Same attitude every single day.”
New fourth-down approach
The Patriots under their previous head coaches, Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo, were quite conservative on fourth downs. Over the last two seasons — Belichick’s last and Mayo’s only season at the job — the team ranked 32nd and 19th in fourth down go rate (i.e. opting to keep the offense on the field when the potential gain in win probability suggests they should).
The sample size is rather small, and the circumstances are markedly different, but so far this season it appears the Patriots have changed their approach: under Mike Vrabel, they have jumped to seventh on that list with a go rate of just over 85%. For comparison, they were at 21% in 2023 and 38% in 2024.
Studying Josh Allen
Comparisons between Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the Patriots’ Drake Maye have been around since before the latter joined the NFL as the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. On Sunday, for the second time, the two will meet in a true competitive setting (something last year’s season opener very much was not).
Given their similarities, it is no surprise that Maye is indeed keeping a close eye on the reigning league MVP.
“Any time you watch those quarterbacks around the league playing at a high level like that, you try to learn something,” Maye said. “Learn how he’s looking off defenders or learn what he’s doing with his pump fakes when he’s out in the perimeter, stuff like that that he’s so good at. From there, he’s great throwing down the field and great at extending plays, moving guys and scramble drill. He’s great.”
Dry spell in Buffalo
Earlier this season, the Patriots managed to break a five-game losing streak in Miami. On Sunday, they will attempt to end a four-game losing streak in Buffalo: the team has not beaten the Bills on the road since a 14-10 victory during the 2021 season, a game famous for New England QB Mac Jones attempting only three passes all day.
This marks the longest such losing streak against the Bills since the Patriots lost six straight between 1988 and 1993.
(Mis)managing Mac
Speaking of Mac Jones, the former Patriots first-round draft pick is in the middle of a career renaissance with the San Francisco 49ers. Replacing injured starting quarterback Brock Purdy for three games so far this year, he has completed 66.7% of his passes for 905 yards with six touchdowns and an interception.
Jones’ success — he is playing arguably the best football of his career — brings back memories of his promising 2021 rookie campaign. It also again raises questions about what went wrong in New England after that season.
The story is well known around these parts of course: head coach Bill Belichick opted to put Jones’ development in the hands of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge rather than hire a traditional offensive coordinator to replace the departed Josh McDaniels, an experiment that lasted only one season (a season that saw Jones suffer a high-ankle sprain early on and Bailey Zappe play some decent football in his place). By his third year under new OC Bill O’Brien, who was rumored to be hired at the behest of owner Robert Kraft, the wheels came off and Jones was traded to Jacksonville the following offseason.
While the Patriots can feel good about their current quarterback situation, the aftermath of McDaniels leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders after the 2021 season is one of the big “What if?” discussions in recent memory.
Week ahead
With their game against the Saints flexed to 1 p.m. ET, the Patriots will be back on their classic afternoon schedule heading into Week 6. Before that contest at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, the team will go through it typical itinerary:
- Monday, Oct. 6: Mike Vrabel media availability
- Tuesday, Oct. 7: Players’ day off
- Wednesday,Oct. 8: Practice, First injury report
- Thursday, Oct. 9: Practice, Second injury report
- Friday, Oct. 10: Practice, Final injury report
- Saturday, Oct. 11: Pre-game walkthrough, flight to New Orleans
- Sunday, Oct. 12: Game day
The Patriots’ game against the Saints will be the second in three-game block of road contests. A week later, New England will head to Tennessee to meet Mike Vrabel’s former team, the Titans. This looks like a potential staying-on-the-road opportunity for the club.
