The New York Jets find themselves in a familiar position heading into Sunday’s game in New England. If they could just find a way to upset the Patriots, it change the direction of their season and start to see them considered as a force to be reckoned with in the AFC. Could this be the time when they finally achieve that, or will they be hanging on to relevance by a thread once again after Sunday?
Let’s break down the Patriots’ roster going position by position:
Quarterbacks
Drake Maye is coming off
a season where he was a legitimate MVP candidate. However, after three weeks, he wasn’t playing like that. The Patriots were 1-2 as Maye had thrown six interceptions and just one touchdown pass.
However, he’s rediscovered himself over the past two games, leading New England to a come-from-behind win against the Bills and a blowout of the Raiders. His 374 yard output against the Raiders represented the second-highest total of his career, as he completed multiple deep balls. Over the two wins, he had seven touchdowns and just one interception.
The Patriots’ number two is Tommy DeVito, who won three straight games as an undrafted rookie with the Giants but hasn’t had much success since then.
Seventh round rookie Behren Morton is the number three.
Offensive Line
New England has a question mark on their offensive line this week after left tackle Will Campbell was injured and knocked out of the previous game. Campbell has been practicing on a limited basis all week but his game status is uncertain and he’s listed as questionable.
In last week’s game, first round pick Caleb Lomu stepped in for Campbell and did well. In college, Lomu faced David Bailey and handled him well, although this was while Bailey was still at Stanford, so he hadn’t fully broken out yet.
New England has multiple ex-Jets on their offensive line with Morgan Moses at right tackle and Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard. They also have Greg Van Roten, but he’s on injured reserve. The 35-year old Moses is doing a solid job, although he does have five penalties in five games. So far, the injury-prone Vera-Tucker has been completely healthy with the Patriots.
The other starters are last year’s third round pick Jared Wilson at center and veteran Mike Onwenu at right guard. However, Onwenu is also on injured reserve, so Ben Brown is currently starting there.
Matt Pryor, Walter Rouse and sixth round rookie Dametrious Crownover are available as cover. Rouse already had to fill in for 41 snaps in week three. In the event of an injury to Wilson, Brown would probably slide across to center.
Running Backs
Similar to Campbell, running back TreVeyon Henderson has practiced on a limited basis this week but his status is uncertain after he picked up a high ankle sprain in last week’s game. He has said he feels pretty good but has been listed as questionable with New England also perhaps thinking ahead to their matchup with the Bears next Thursday.
Henderson had 900 yards and nine touchdowns last year, but Rhamondre Stevenson is a more than adequate replacement, who has been a thousand-yard back in the past. He leads the team in rushing yards so far this year.
The number three is Corey Kiner, who saw some playing time last week but fumbled once.
Pass catchers
The Patriots activated AJ Brown for practice this week, after he had been injured in the opener, so he may return to give their offense a further boost on Sunday, although his official game status is questionable.
In Brown’s absence, Mack Hollins had been leading the team in receptions, but he is also now on injured reserve.
Offseason signing Romeo Doubs leads the team with 219 receiving yards and Pop Douglas is coming off a game last week where he caught two touchdown passes.
Slot receiver Efton Chism is now a regular part of the rotation and responded with the winning touchdown against the Bills on a spectacular one-handed catch.
Kyle Williams also gets regular playing time and has been established as a big play threat.
At tight end, Hunter Henry is off to a modest start, having caught 60 passes with seven touchdowns last year.
Third round rookie Eli Raridon is the number two, and has eight catches with a touchdown, while Tanner Arkin and Cameron Latu are also on the roster with Julian Hill on injured reserve.
Defensive Line
The starters on the defensive line are former first round pick Christian Barmore, nose tackle Cory Durden and last year’s big money signing Milton Williams, who had 3.5 sacks.
DaQuan Jones gives them an experienced backup at the nose tackle position with Joshua Farmer and ex-Jet Leonard Taylor III also on the team.
All six of these players were active in the Raiders game, although Taylor has played the least on defense.
Linebackers
New England are without their top two pass rushers from last season, as K’Lavon Chaisson left during the offseason and Harold Landry is on the PUP list. These two combined for 16 sacks last season.
In their place, the starters on the edge are Elijah Ponder and Dre’Mont Jones, with Ponder having really stepped up so far as he has 4.5 sacks and leads the team in quarterback hits and tackles for loss.
Second round rookie Gabe Jacas is likely to see his role continue to expand though, as he’s flashed playmaking abilities as a rotational player with 1.5 sacks, an interception, three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits.
The inside linebackers are led by Robert Spillane, who had 97 tackles last season and is leading the team again in that category. Alongside him, Christian Elliss also plays a full time role. Elliss is another Patriots player who is listed as questionable, although he practiced full on Friday.
The reserves on the inside are Erick Hunter, Darius Muasau and sixth round rookie Namdi Obiazor, although they don’t play much. All three got some valuable reps in garbage time last week though.
Defensive Backs
New England has some real talent at cornerback with their three starters all having posted double digits for passes defensed last year. Former first round pick Christian Gonzalez was a pro bowler and the slot cornerback Marcus Jones intercepted three passes last year to prove he’s not just a punt returner. Carlton Davis was a big money signing who slotted well into the rotation.
Davis has been ruled out due to injury and Gonzalez also had some injury issues, but he appears to be good to go. The main backup is Charles Woods, so he may need to step in for Davis.
Fifth round rookie Karon Prunty, Channing Canada and Kindle Vildor are the other backups, but Prunty has been ruled out and Canada is listed as questionable.
At safety New England brought in Kevin Byard to replace Jaylinn Hawkins, who had led them with four interceptions in 2025. Craig Woodson returns as the other starter with Dell Pettus on injured reserve. Woodson is also listed as questionable but was not limited in practice on Friday, so should be fine to play.
Jaylen Reed has also started one game and seen action in three-safety sets, while Mike Brown is available in reserve and Brenden Schooler is mostly just a special teamer.
Special Teams
Kicker Andy Borregales missed seven kicks last season and has already missed two this year. He had the game winner against the Bills last season and also had the game-winner against Denver in the AFC title game, albeit in the third quarter.
Punter Brian Baringer is on injured reserve so veteran Mitch Wishnowsky currently has this role. He has a net average of below 40 yards but has only allowed 64 return yards.
In the return game, Jones is a two-time all pro as a punt returner and once had the game winning score against the Jets (albeit due to an obvious missed holding penalty). He had two more touchdowns last year. Douglas is listed as his backup, while Williams handles kickoffs with Chism as his number two.
The pro bowler Schooler has only played one game so far this year, but the Patriots have plenty of other productive players in kick coverage, including Elliss, Ponder, Obiazor, Hunter and Muasau.
The backup cornerbacks share the gunner roles along with Schooler.
