Latest news with #Patriots'
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
How Stefon Diggs fits in is the most interesting story line of training camp, and other Patriots thoughts
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 3. Perhaps he will be. The opportunity is certainly there — to call the Patriots' need to find Maye genuine receiving help 'desperate' is a wild understatement. I've been following the Patriots since 1978 (long live Horace Ivory) and last season's group of wide receivers was the worst I've seen here. Advertisement 4. The second-worst I've seen? The post-Deion Branch crew in 2006, probably, which is regrettable since the Patriots most likely win the Super Bowl with a better receiving corps. Reche Caldwell, who would have been the No. 3 receiver at best on most contending teams, led the way with 71 catches. Bill Belichick's negligence at the position caught up to them in the end. At least the what-if of that season led to Randy Moss and Wes Welker coming in and the 2007 fireworks. Advertisement 5. That digression aside, back to Diggs. If this is really going to work between him and the Patriots, it's not entirely a matter of production on the field. He's always been on the mercurial side, even when he was putting up elite numbers. That he seemed to wear out his welcome with Josh Allen — the Bills' good-natured superstar quarterback — suggests that he might have some verbal notes for Maye if the ball isn't coming in his direction enough for his liking. 6. Anyone want to join me in boarding the Kyle Williams bandwagon early? The Patriots' third-round pick out of Washington State surely has much to learn, but his skill set as an outside receiver seems to jibe well with one of Maye's primary strengths: throwing the ball downfield with touch. The bet here is that Williams gets better and better as the season goes on, and becomes the exception to the franchise's lousy recent draft history with receivers. Advertisement 7. Other than the sophomore quarterback, there's no Patriot I'm looking forward to watching this season more than must be utilized as more than just a standard third-down back. 8. Curious to see how much offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels takes advantage of Maye's mobility, particularly as a runner. Last season's one-and-done offensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt, acknowledged at one point that there was reluctance to utilize Maye in the running game out of fear of exposing him to hits. Maybe Van Pelt thought they would hurt worse than the ones Maye was taking behind Vederian Lowe and friends? 9. Even with that reluctance to let Maye use his legs, he still finished with 421 rushing yards, which makes him the 62nd-leading rusher in Patriots history, 3 yards behind (checks notes) Fred Taylor. If Maye rushes for 421 yards again this season — and he probably will run for more, right? — that would put him behind only Steve Grogan (2,176), breakaway threat Tom Brady (1,037, on 606 attempts), Babe Parilli, and Jim Plunkett among Patriots quarterbacks. 10. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones's mode of operation for a while now has been to drag out contract negotiations with the team's stars for the sake of getting his mug on camera as much as possible before eventually paying them what they're worth. It's a transparent game that he plays, and it almost always costs him in the end. Still, it can't hurt for the Patriots to do their due diligence on the possible availability of Micah Parsons, who is caught up in Jones's pathological need to be the center of attention. The Patriots' reloaded defense should be very good. With Parsons — and that pipe dream somehow fulfilled — it might be the league's best. Advertisement Chad Finn can be reached at
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
The chance to work with Josh McDaniels, and play alongside Stefon Diggs, has Patriots receiver DeMario Douglas fired up
The 5-foot-8-inch, 192-pound Douglas tied for the team lead with 66 catches last year, and finished with 621 receiving yards and three touchdowns. His 115 receptions over the last two years are the most among Patriots receivers. He's been the best and most consistent part of the passing game, an occasional bright light in an otherwise woeful stretch. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But Douglas is aware that the opportunity to work with McDaniels gives him the chance to take his game to another level. Advertisement 'He's a good guy, first,' said Douglas shortly after Wednesday's practice finished. 'Before anything, before we went over plays, he called me and he spoke from the heart, and I feel like that's the coach that you need. Especially as an OC. So, we got close there. 'On the field, I just have to work to gain his trust, you know? That's my duty to fill that role and help this team win.' Over the years, the Patriots' coaching staff has been known to break out film of former stars as a way to help players refine their game. Receivers have talked about film sessions that include highlights from receivers such as Welker, Edelman, and Randy Moss. Douglas said he's had the chance to sit with McDaniels, watch film, and take notes, something that's helped him push forward. Advertisement 'He'll go show me some old film and be like, 'It'll be just like this,' ' Douglas said of McDaniels. 'And I'll come out to practice and be like, 'Man, it was exactly like how he showed me.' The game doesn't change. It just gets faster.' Two other elements that should help Douglas this season: One, According to Douglas, Diggs's presence should pay dividends, on and off the field. 'He's a dog. He talks ,' Douglas said. 'He talks a lot of junk, but it's good. You need that. He's a constructive criticism type of guy. He'll tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. And I feel like that's what you need as a big brother.' And two, there's Advertisement 'The throwing, obviously [was fun], but us bonding,' Douglas said. 'We had a hoop in the garage. We were in there hooping. We played Spikeball. I feel like stuff like that got us closer. We did extra activities.' It's the sort of leadership Douglas endorses heading into the season. '[Maye is] definitely becoming that leader,' Douglas added. 'He brings energy into the facility and on the field. He says nothing but encouraging things. If something goes bad, he does nothing but lift us up.' Christopher Price can be reached at
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Christian Gonzalez's seven-word reaction to facing Stefon Diggs
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is excited about potential training camp matchups with four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs, and he said as much while meeting with media members earlier in the week. Diggs, who was recently cleared for training camp, was one of the Patriots' newest receiving weapons acquired in the offseason. He signed a three-year, $69 million deal with the team in free agency. Meanwhile, Gonzalez is a third-year cornerback coming off his first All-Pro season. He'll be looking to solidify himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this year. 'I'm excited for that. It'll be fun," Gonzalez said on the training camp matchup with Diggs, via NBC Sports' Phil Perry. This is a classic case of iron sharpening iron with the upcoming training camp battles between Gonzalez and Diggs. Before going down with the ACL injury, Diggs was coming off six straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. If he returns to form, it could turn into an incredible matchup against Gonzalez, who locked down some of the best receivers in the league last year. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Mike Vrabel scolds reporter for not paying attention in feisty Patriots press conference
Pay attention, New England media, Mike Vrabel's first training camp as Patriots coach is now in session. One Boston reporter learned that lesson the hard way Tuesday when they received a scolding from the Patriots' Super Bowl-winning linebacker-turned-head coach at a press conference after posing a similar question that Vrabel had already answered about how players utilized their time away from the facility. 'I mean, whether you were in a coma when I answered Tom's [Curran] question, typing on your phone or tweeting, I don't know, but I spent five minutes answering that question. I can go back through it, but I'd rather not,' Vrabel said. Advertisement 3 Mike Vrabel scolded a Boston reporter during a Patriots press conference in July 2025. Youtube/Patriots The Boston Globe's Ben Volin was on the receiving end of the Vrabel call-out and flagged himself for a 'total lack of focus.' As Tuesday's press conference continued, Vrabel provided further context on the players' conditioning and expressed hope that he wouldn't have to repeat himself down the line. Advertisement 'We won't know — we did pretty good on the linear run test, which they practiced; they knew what it was going to be. The big thing will come when they're in line contact. You're sitting there, you're wrestling with a guy, and then the D-lineman's rushing, he almost gets to the quarterback, but we're telling him to plant, run and go sprint to the football, and then go do it again. Or, we're asking Kyle Williams to go run a post, and he didn't get the ball, but he wanted to get the ball, but he didn't. Can he run back, get set and know what to do the next play? That's really where we'll see. So, I'll be able to answer that question, again, hopefully only once, in a few days,' he said. 3 Mike Vrabel was hired as the Patriots' head coach in January 2025. Eric Canha-Imagn Images Vrabel, 49, is tasked with restoring the Patriots to their glory days following a string of dreadful seasons under his former coach, Bill Belichick, and fellow New England alum Jerod Mayo, who was fired in January after an embarrassing 4-13 campaign. Advertisement He spent the 2024 season as a coaching and personnel consultant with the Browns after being fired by the Titans in January of that year following six seasons at the helm. A winning culture is at the forefront of Vrabel's game plan entering training camp. 3 He coached the Titans for six seasons before his January 2024 firing. AP 'I have to continue to teach, develop and make connections with our guys. Through that, preparing them to win, and the situations, getting them to understand that there's different ways to win a football game. There's a lot of ways to lose them, but we want to focus on the ways that we're going to win, and sometimes that's going to be different each and every week with whatever that plan to win is each and every week. I have to try to do that. I have to get our coaches to do that and get our players to understand that,' he said. Advertisement The Patriots open the season at home against the Raiders on Sept. 7.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Mike Vrabel shares long-awaited update on Patriots DC Terrell Williams
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel announced that defensive coordinator Terrell Williams is back with the team after a recent health scare. An undisclosed medical incident kept Williams away from the team throughout most of the offseason program, but there were always expectations that he would return at some point. He officially joined the Patriots' staff back in January, after spending the 2024 season as the defensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Detroit Lions. His ties with Vrabel go as far back as their time together with the Tennessee Titans from 2018-2022. Now, they are officially reunited in New England for a new opportunity in 2025 and beyond. Williams has remained in touch with the team through Zoom calls. So he hasn't been out of the loop on things heading into training camp. It will be interesting to see how he implements his defensive style in person. He is known for an aggressive style, which is something that the team was missing last season. Patriots fans are hoping he can implement it with great effect immediately. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
