Friday Patriots Notebook 9/5: Gonzalez In Doubt For Sunday, Maye’s New Approach Stands Out
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Some Patriots news and notes on Friday:
1) Gonzalez sits out, likely out this weekend: Given how things have gone this week, it looks like the Patriots’ depth will be tested this weekend when the club kicks off its 2025 season.
According to reports, defensive back Christian Gonzalez missed practice Friday for the third straight day, which will likely mean that he’ll be listed as “Out” when the team releases its injury report later today.
That will certainly make things challenging. However, it will likely mean an opportunity for young players like rookie D.J. James or newcomer Charles Woods to fill the void.
For James, he had a good preseason, finishing with four tackles along with an interception, and he was someone who was around the football and seemed to get better with each passing week.
Another player to watch is going to be Marcus Jones, who appears to have grown quite a bit this offseason, with Jones earning some praise from Mike Vrabel earlier this week on what he’s seen from him from a leadership standpoint.
“Really, by example, just the way … his practice habits, his professionalism, I would say, and then his performance on the field and what he does and how he plays,” said Vrabel. “Really like being around Marcus. I like the person that he is and the player that he is.”
Overall, with it being the first game, it likely won’t be just the secondary that sees a rotation of players on Sunday. Vrabel also noted they’ll likely need everybody, and the guys who are where they need from a conditioning standpoint will see the most time.
“Everybody will have to play. Everybody has to play every game and be ready to play,” said Vrabel. “The ones that are in condition and they’re playing the way that we expect them to, will stay in there. When they’re not, then they’ll have to get a break and put the next guy in there like we’ve always done.”
2) McDaniels’ philosophy fully ingrained in Maye: One thing that’s been interesting this preseason, and certainly again listening to him again this week, is the fact that Josh McDaniels has really instilled a new philosophy that Drake Maye has seemed to take to heart.
That philosophy has been to not be afraid to take what’s there rather than looking for a big play, and it really seems to be something that has resonated with Maye.
Maye talked about that this week, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it translates out on the field. Last season we saw him sit back a bit in the pocket holding the ball a little longer than he probably should have, which saw him then have to run with the football and make something happen.
That obviously led to some turnovers and mistakes, and Maye admitted that being better about getting the ball out to an open man rather than looking for a big play is definitely going to be his approach this season.
“I think it starts with me, getting the ball out on time, not holding it, knowing don’t bypass the first guy open, I see open, trying to hunt a deeper one,” said Maye. “The running backs can help in the protection. I think little things like that. And I think scheme. I think me just getting us in the right plays and knowing when he’s one-on-one and knowing when we have help to him. I think from there, just like I said, follow our keys and know if it’s emphasis for us this week, then just follow that and stay true to it.”
Maye added that when he did focus on finding completions last season, it led to some good things and that’s absolutely his mindset heading into 2025.
“I think that’s part of what we watch film for,” said Maye on if he’s confident that he’ll be able to read the defense and make those throws. “That’s part of what we come out here and practice for is knowing check downs and knowing, ‘Hey, my first look, if they’re giving it to me, take it.’ I think that’s the best part of playing quarterback in this league, finding completions.”
“I feel confident in myself. I feel like at times last year when I got the ball out on time and got the ball to the right guy, we moved the ball well. I think just trying to start off this season with that mindset. And like I said, stay ahead of the chains and do my part and find the completions and not holding the ball.”
3) Stick to the basics: The more difficult part about this time of year is the fact that there’s obviously not much film to work off of, especially with teams like Las Vegas who have a completely new staff from the year before.
That makes it difficult to know what to expect. Maye told reporters that McDaniels has had him watch film of the Super Bowl against the Seahawks, as well as the game in 2020 when Cam Newton was under center. With McDaniels trying to introduce some concepts for Maye to be aware of on Sunday.
However, according to McDaniels, the bigger emphasis is going to be on sticking to their own rules and then making whatever adjustments they need to as things unfold.
“I think opening days, there’s always some healthy anxiety because you just don’t know,” said McDaniels on Thursday. “None of us knows exactly what we’re going to get from the other team in terms of strategy or schematics. You have an idea, but they have every right to hide everything they want to do, and as do we. You’re always going to see things you didn’t necessarily practice or prepare for on opening day.”
“I think opening day is really about yourself and trusting your rules and how well have you ingrained those rules into your team so that whenever you get a look, a defense, a blitz, a coverage, you trust that you know what to do, and then you just got to follow your rules.”
“I think the second part of opening day is I think it’s always about making an adjustment. You’re going to see some things that force you to turn left or right. As soon as you kind of see it becoming a pattern. And then how quickly can you do it and how well can you acclimate to what the game is actually becoming. So whatever you’ve prepared for is one thing. What happens on opening day is usually a separate thing.”
When asked about how well prepared his group is, he emphasized again that it comes down to the foundational things, and he’s confident with where they are as they continue getting ready for the Raiders.
“It’s always kind of a balance opening day where you don’t want to try to do too much because you can sit there and say you think it’s going to be A, B, and C, and all of a sudden you get in the game and it’s E, F, and G, and now you’re changing gears already anyway,” said McDaniels. “I think there’s a certain element of foundational things that we kind of know, and I feel confident that our guys know what to do depending on the look we get. And then everything else is going to be ready to adjust if we need to.”
“So I’m confident in our approach. Certainly not going to overdo the game plan in terms of volume and all these things where you’re guaranteeing you’re going to get, because I don’t think there’s anybody that can do that. And just get our guys as prepared as we can to do the things we know how to do well, and then go out there and play fast and be aggressive and follow your rules and talk to each other and adjust if we need to.”
As for the expectations for Maye, McDaniels said they’re high, but he’s looking forward to seeing him get out there on Sunday.
“High,” said McDaniels on his expectations for the second-year QB. “I mean, he’s the quarterback of our football team. And so I’ve always had high expectations for the quarterback room in general. I know how hard they work, so I have confidence in his preparation. I know there’s going to be opportunities to improve as we go through every day, every week.”
“It’s my first opportunity to coach a game with him and with a lot of our guys. I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot, but I always go in, my feelings are always based on what I see every day, and how hard they work and what they put into it. I couldn’t ask Drake to do more than what he’s doing. He’s trying to understand exactly what we’re doing. He’s really trying to be as well-versed as he can on what we know from the Raiders, but just looking forward to going out there and watching him play and seeing our entire group out there together.”
4) McDaniels enjoying his new start: One other thing that stood out from his press conference yesterday is the fact that given how long McDaniels has been around, he noted that Vrabel brings a “fresh” approach and that he feels like he learns something new each day.
That’s pretty remarkable given his experience with Bill Belichick, but it feels like Vrabel is bringing a different energy. McDaniels also noted the difference in the work-life balance, which Vrabel is certainly aware of, to the point he’s chased his staff out of the office knowing how long the NFL’s season is.
“It’s fun. I know he does a really doing a job of balancing the grind of football with the human element of how difficult this job can be, both from a player’s perspective and a coaching perspective,” said McDaniels. “I’m really enjoying his perspective on that and how he keeps it fresh. He’ll chase us out of here when it’s time to get out of here, which I appreciate. He knows how long the season can be, and rest and trying to keep yourself in a healthy place is an important part of it, too. That’s been great, and I’ve learned a lot.”
“It’s been a long time since I was with Mike. I was a young coach, and he was a player. So he’s obviously learned a tremendous amount from the people that he’s been fortunate to work around. And then he’s adapted his philosophy when he had the opportunity to become a head coach. And I learn something new every day. And that’s a great thing for me at this point in my life, just going to a squad meeting, listen, pick up things from him, how he’s handling the day, the week, the players, et cetera. It’s really given me a cool opportunity at this stage to work for somebody new, different, that has a little bit of a different spin on things, but certainly believes in everything we’re doing, and I know that we all support that 100%.”
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