Some news and notes on this Friday:
1) Patriots Barmore Gets Medical Clearance: One key loss the New England Patriots endured during last season was the loss of defensive tackle, Christian Barmore, who was diagnosed with blood clots last summer ahead of the season.
While he returned briefly midseason, Barmore ultimately suffered a setback that had his future up in the air heading into 2025.
Fortunately, the news apparently just took a positive turn.
Barmore told reporters on Thursday that he’s been cleared for football activities and he expects to be ready to be out on the field when the 2025 Patriots Season kicks off against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium on September 7th.
“Yeah, that’s the goal,” said Barmore. “I just got to keep following the medical team. Everything’s looking real well. So, yeah.”
Barmore said he feels good and that he’s grateful for the support he’s received, given that he would have “lost a lot” had it not been for the people who he feels made it all possible.
“Feeling really good, man. Really blessed,” said Barmore. “My family supported me. My teammates supported me. The medical team supported me. They make me just grind hard every day to make me the guy that wants to keep working hard, the guy that wants to keep getting better, and just literally worry about the future.”
“Last year really hit me because I’m using that as motivation and anger because it’s just making me work even harder because that was a situation … I could have lost a lot. And literally, all the work I put in could have been taken away and I would have been really hurt.
“So, I was just like, I can never take things for granted, and just keep on working even harder, and just keep doing what God planned.”
His loss last year was a tough blow for New England. Barmore was obviously one of their key defenders, having finished with 8.5 sacks in 2023, including 64 tackles, 6 passes defended, and a forced fumble. He was also part of a defense that finished 7th in the NFL in yards per game, and 4th in the NFL in rushing yards per game that season.
Without him, the totals in 2024 were notably different. The Patriots finished last season 22nd in yards allowed per game and 23rd in rushing yards given up per game.
His loss also came just months after giving him a significant contract extension, locking up someone who is considered to be a foundational player on defense.
He missed the majority of the 2024 campaign, with Barmore finally returning in Week 11 against the Rams. However, he appeared in the next three contests before suffering a setback ahead of the club’s Week 16 match-up against Buffalo that ultimately ended his season.
Heading into the offseason, it was unknown if he’d be ready to return at all. He had reportedly been present during the offseason workouts when players were allowed to return to the stadium, but his exact status at the time was still uncertain.
Now, it’s all about getting ready to hit the field in the coming months, and Barmore said he’s excited for both the guys he’ll be lining up with and what’s ahead.
“Yes, I’m really excited,” said Barmore. “I’m really excited because we got some hungry dogs, literally. I’m really excited. It’s just like, how’s it really looking? I look at the team all the time. I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a dog. It’s going to be good.’ I just feel it. It’s a guy like a real good… I just love the defense.”
2) Vrabel’s Return to Tennessee Kept Out of Spotlight: The Patriots will appear in three prime time games in 2025, but it feels like the games the league spotlighted weren’t the ones many felt would have been there.
The Patriots will take on the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 on the road on Sunday Night Football, with Drake Maye going up against Josh Allen in what could be a pivotal game within the AFC East. However, from there, it’s a Thursday night game against the Jets in Week 11, along with a Monday night game against the Giants on December 1st in Week 13, rounding out their games in the spotlight in 2025.
Notably absent from any national exposure is the team’s season opener at home against the Raiders, and their Week 7 match-up down in Tennessee.
The opener holds some intrigue due to the fact that it will likely hold some significance with Josh McDaniels, along with the fact there’s the additional storyline now that Tom Brady is a minority owner. Yet the league put that one in the 1:00 pm timeslot and not the 4:25 pm national slot, nor was it part of any of the evening match-ups that week.
The game down in Tennessee is another that was interesting, given the same situation Mike Vrabel is facing against his old team. Again, that’s another game that will be played at 1:00 pm, with the league also opting not to put that one on the national stage in any of the night games.
Mike Reiss of ESPN reached out to NFL VP of Broadcast Planning Mike North, who said the latter game was considered for the national spotlight, but they ultimately didn’t select it.
“That’s still one of our top brands,” said North as transcribed by Reiss, referring to the Patriots. “Obviously they have a quarterback [Drake Maye] in place that they are certainly hoping will be there for a decade, and obviously a storyline with [Mike Vrabel] coming in. Looked for a minute at ‘does the Patriots at Titans game, Coach Vrabel returns, have to find itself into a national window?’ Considered it. Didn’t lock it in. And on the final version, the way it spun out, it didn’t happen to end up in one.”
North went on to say that the Patriots are still in the national spotlight in three games in 2025, with the potential of being flexed into more depending on how they play this season.
“But still, 3 national television games for the Patriots – a Sunday night, a Monday night, a Thursday night; a staple of prime-time schedule for decades in this league and still really one of the top brands in the league,” said North. “So still find their way in some national television windows and, as always, a chance to play themselves into more as a result of flexible scheduling.”
3) Bledsoe Sees Maye’s Running Ability as ‘Backbreaker’ For Opponents: Former Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe has seen the changes at the quarterback position over the years, and he feels his former team definitely has something special with Drake Maye.
During an appearance on ‘Up & Adams’ with Kay Adams this week, Bledsoe said that Maye’s ability to make plays with his feet makes him especially dangerous for defenses.
“Yeah. It’s such a great weapon and something, quite honestly, I’m a little bit jealous of,” said Bledsoe. “It was not a big part of my game, obviously, but it can really break the back of a defense because when you have a defensive play on third down, and we’re looking at some third downs right here where you cover everybody, everybody’s covered, you’ve done your job, and then all of a sudden, the quarterback pulls it down, runs, and gets a first down. That’s really disheartening to a defense.”
“When you really feel like you did your job in coverage and you covered everybody, and all of a sudden, the guy pulls it down and runs for a first down, it can really be devastating to a defense.”
We already saw glimpses of that last season, including this play against the Jets where he took it in from 17 yards out for the touchdown, and this ridiculous heads-up TD pass against the Cardinals in Week 15 to Demario Douglas.
Those are the things that make someone like Maye so dangerous. In fact, after seeing New England’s defense battle against guys like both Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, the fact that they have a player of their own with that ability certainly changes things.
As for whether or not Bledsoe feels Maye should run more, he doesn’t believe that should be the plan, but the fact that he has that weapon in his arsenal makes him that much tougher to defend.
“I’m not necessarily saying he should run more, but the ability to do that, man, it really changes…I mean, you watch Pat Mahomes. It seems like every game, at the end of a game, Pat would make one big play running the ball,” said Bledsoe. “Obviously, he’s magic throwing the ball, but it just always seemed like in crunch time, he pulled it down and ran for that first down.”
“That was just a backbreaker. And I think Drake may have the ability to do that.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
