Wednesday Patriots Notebook 5/15: News and Notes
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
The NFL is expected to release the full 2024 schedule later tonight, which will at least provide a roadmap for how the upcoming regular season will play out.
For the Patriots, there are a handful of dates already known. The club is indeed going to be facing off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7, which is set for October 20th in London, England at Wembley Stadium. It’s their second straight trip across the pond after New England played in Germany against the Colts in 2023, a 10-6 loss.
This one is set to be played on NFL Network at 9:30 AM ET, and will also set up a midseason bye week after the club returns home, which is normal protocol for teams following having to travel to Europe for a game.
So far, that’s the only official date that’s set. Additional rumors have been discussed, which were mentioned on the most recent episode of The Patriots Report with Price & Hogan. Christopher Price of the Boston Globe said he’s heard the Patriots may be opening the 2024 season on the road in Tennessee against the Titans.
Without Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel, that game should certainly have a different feel to it compared to past seasons. The expectation down there seems to be that the Titans are putting their faith in second-year quarterback Will Levis, who has been hard at work this offseason improving his mechanics. For a team that had been tough under Vrabel, along with their personnel changes, should this rumor hold true, the Patriots may actually have an opportunity to open 2024 with a win.
From there, Price revealed that he’s heard Arizona and San Francisco are reportedly scheduled as back-to-back opponents at some point this season for New England, albeit we don’t know the exact dates or the order they’ll face them.
However, Price said during the episode that regardless of how those two games line up, that stretch will likely see the Patriots spend two weeks out on the west coast, which the team last did in 2022 when they played both Arizona and Las Vegas, in weeks 14 and 15.
Hopefully, those two weeks work out a little better than the two in 2022 did. They split those games, beating the Cardinals 27-13, but everyone remembers that frustrating end during their 30-24 loss to the Raiders. That was the game with that crazy finish where rather than go to overtime, the Patriots lost the game after losing the football on an ill-advised lateral attempt, which saw Raiders defensive end and former Patriot Chandler Jones end up with the football.
He barreled over Jones and was off to the races, taking it back 48 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
The only other thing we know is that the Eagles are set to be the Patriots’ second preseason opponent, and joint practices are potentially also set for that week. Mike Reiss reported over the weekend that those are also expected to be the only joint sessions for the club, with New England hoping to limit any flare-ups as they continue preparing for the upcoming season.
Tom Brady appeared on The Pivot podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, with Brady talking about a variety of topics during the episode.
Brady said during the interview that when it came to his decision to participate in The Roast of Tom Brady on Netflix, he didn’t take into account the aftermath when it came to his family, most specifically, his children.
“I loved when the jokes were about me,” said Brady. “I thought they were so fun. I didn’t like the way it affected my kids. It’s the hardest part about, like, the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way, and then all of a sudden you realize, I wouldn’t do that again because of the way that affected the people that, actually, I care about the most in the world.”
“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it,” said Brady of the reactions following the roast. “Because, again, sometimes, you’re naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘Oh s**t.’ Like I said, when I signed up for that, I loved when people were making fun of me.”
Brady also provided some insight to how he got through that period of deflate-gate when he was a constant target in the news.
“When I was going through all the deflategate stuff in 2015, 2016, I watched three things on TV. I watched Premier League soccer, I watched golf, and I watched comedy shows. because every time I turned on SportsCenter, I was like, ‘Are you f*****g kidding me?'” So it was like, I just want to laugh.”
“So I wanted to do the roast because Jeff Ross became someone that I knew and then you know, you don’t see the full picture all the time. So I think it’s a good lesson for me as a parent. I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it. And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”
Brady also talked about his opportunity this upcoming season to begin a career in broadcasting, which he said he’s really looking forward to. “I’m taking this broadcasting job, and I’m really excited about that,” said Brady. “It’s really good a challenge. It’s a way to still love what we’ve loved for so long but also express exactly what you guys are doing here, different parts of you to express through your words and not through this physical part. We made our living being physical beings. Yeah, behind the scenes, we were communicative, we were teammates, it was very mental, it was very emotional. But now we actually have to use our voice, that’s a different skillset. It wasn’t non-verbal communication, it’s very verbal communication. So something like being a broadcaster on Fox, I’m really looking forward to that, among some other cool things I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of.” … Taylor had an anecdote that he’d been waiting to tell, recalling a story from preseason where Brady came down on him. “I’ve been waiting to tell this story,” said Taylor, smiling as he started telling it. “I believe it was maybe my second year there, 2010, preseason, third game vs Washington. It was a meeting that I didn’t go to, Kevin [Faulk] went to. But Kevin didn’t play in the preseason game, so I was in the “F” position. I had the – vs Cover 2, Tampa two – I had an inside hook, but I had to play off the mic. And you wanted me to run a skinny out, but I hooked it in, and he chewed me the f**k out in preseason. But, being the great teammate that you are, you came and apologized because you recognized what Billy O [Bill O’Brien] said. ‘Freddy wasn’t in that meeting, so he shouldn’t have known that adjustment,’ and you came and apologized.’ You were always fiery. And I would tell people all the time you practiced just like – for every game – the game and practice they were identical. You couldn’t tell the difference in your approach. And that’s why you became the type of player that you were.” … Anyone wondering if Brady deals with real life issues can rest easy knowing that even winning a Super Bowl doesn’t fix everything, with Brady recalling a story following their win over Seattle. “I remember we won the Super Bowl in 2014 against Seattle. Flew home with my family, it was the day after the game, get home, flood in my house. Like, water, just pouring off my roof. And I’m like, ‘A day ago, we were on top of the world, and now it’s like, real life. Boom.’ And you just realize every day, and I think the perspective I have now is, the sun comes up the next day. Whether you win that Super Bowl, whether you lose that Super Bowl, whether you win that game, lose that game, that sun’s coming up.”
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