The 12th Sunday of the NFL’s 2021 season has arrived, and there is a lot going on around the New England Patriots and the rest of the league.
From “Do your job” to “No days off” his operational mantras lie at the very heart of the Patriots organization.
“It’s something that I’ve heard for a long time,” said linebacker Dont’a Hightower earlier this week.
With only six games left on New England’s schedule, the team is gearing up for a late-season run.
It starts on Sunday against an 8-3 Tennessee Titans team currently in possession of the top spot in the AFC.
“It’s a new season after Thanksgiving, and everything is a fresh start, so we have to go out there with a positive mindset,” said quarterback Mac Jones.
Even though they have not played them since the 2019 season, the Patriots are quite familiar with the Titans thanks to their head coach: Mike Vrabel spent eight seasons with the organization, helping bring three Super Bowls to Foxborough and establishing the so-called Patriot Way.
So far, he has had plenty of success: Vrabel has led the team to three straight winning seasons — he will likely make it 4-for-4 this year — as well as a 39-24 record so far.
“You can see how they play the game offensively and how they are disciplined on defense and how they’re able to cause turnovers and make plays off that.
The Titans will be short-handed on both sides of the ball, but their defense still features considerable talent and the ability to disrupt New England’s attack.
“As long as we keep the ball in front of us, he can dink and dunk it as much as he wants,” Byard said this week.
Growing up in Jacksonville and playing football at the University of Alabama, Mac Jones has not had plenty of cold-weather experience so far.
“I think just take each day day-by-day and try not to focus on it too much and just wear whatever you’re supposed to wear and take the advice from the older people that have played a lot in the cold and just trying to figure it out,” he said.
One person helping Jones prepare for low temperatures is backup quarterback Brian Hoyer.
“Just asking Brian a lot of questions, really,” said Jones.
When the Patriots took the practice fields for the first time this week, two members of their rookie class were present as well: fifth-round linebacker Cameron McGrone and sixth-round defensive back Joshuah Bledsoe, who were both placed on the non-football injury list ahead of the regular season.
“They worked really hard,” head coach Bill Belichick said about them.
The Patriots now have three weeks to decide whether or not to activate McGrone and Bledsoe, and they will take their time.
The free agency acquisition, who was brought aboard via a three-year, $15 million contract in March, currently leads the team with 562 receiving yards; he also is ranked second in both receptions .
The 26-year-old has also started to make an impact as a runner: over the last two weeks, he has carried the football four times for 50 yards.
If you can get the ball to the skill players and they can make yards on their own, that’s a great thing.
Earlier this month, four Patriots players were named to various NFL All-Underrated Teams: Matthew Judon and Adrian Phillips made a list curated by Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, while Kendrick Bourne and Kyle Dugger found themselves on the team built by Bill Barnwell of ESPN.
One of the other players worth mentioning in this category is fullback Jakob Johnson, who has played an integral part in New England’s running attack yet again.
Another under-the-radar player is left guard Ted Karras.
The Patriots struggled mightily versus the run last year, but with the free agency addition manning the nose the unit has bounced back in impressive fashion.
Then, there is the perpetually underrated special teams. Matthew Slater, Justin Bethel, Cody Davis and Brandon King have all helped New England field the best kicking game unit in the league.
Five former Patriots have also made the cut: defensive linemen Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour, running back Fred Taylor, and offseason members Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne.
Suspiciously absent from the list, however, is safety Rodney Harrison.
The former San Diego Chargers fifth-round draft choice would go on to spend the final six seasons of his 15-year career in New England, where he was a cornerstone of a team that won the Super Bowl in both 2003 and 2004.
Is it how many years they played? Is it All-Pros they had? Is it how many championships they won? Is it individual stats? You can make it whatever you want to make it.