{"id":45121,"date":"2023-01-08T05:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T10:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=45121"},"modified":"2023-01-07T22:40:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T03:40:46","slug":"patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good morning and Happy Game Day. Today would have Elvis Presley\u2019s 88th birthday, which is hard to believe, so for the rest of us today who were\/are big fans, we\u2019re going to continue on \u201cTakin\u2019 Care of Business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last regular season game for the Patriots of 2022. If the Patriots are to play next weekend on Wild Card weekend, they can punch their ticket by winning in Buffalo. They could still back-in with a loss but would need help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no idea how the Bills will respond to the emotional roller coaster they\u2019ve been on all week. They did get some great news late in the week when Damar Hamlin was removed from a ventilator in the hospital. He later recorded a message for his teammates. I am sure that will be played to the crowd just before today&#8217;s game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffalo is always a loud, raucous place, even in the days that the Bills even when the Bills were bad. I fully expect the noise to be off the charts today. I think the Patriots will have to weather the storm for most of, if not the entire first quarter. If they can enter the 2nd quarter tied or in the lead, then they\u2019d have a good chance of upsetting Buffalo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But they can\u2019t get down by much early, or the crowd and the Bills&#8217; emotions will snowball and run them out of the stadium in an ugly loss. But my three keys to the game, which I said on our 4th &amp; 2 podcast this week, began with:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Weather the Storm &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have to hang with the Bills, as I expect them to come out very strong. Whether or not they can sustain that for 60 minutes will be the question. But the Patriots must hang with the Bills early and hope that the early adrenaline rush burns off with the score close.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Throw the conservative 11x-a-game bubble screens into the scrap heap &#8211;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Start scheming plays 12-15 yards down the field. Put Tyquan Thornton in motion to get him a clean release. Throw to the backs and tight ends beyond two yards of the line-of-scrimmage. And throw the damn ball to Kendrick Bourne.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Scheme up a defensive game plan to not just contain Josh Allen but to get pressure on him &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping him in the pocket but giving him 4-6 seconds to throw is a recipe for losing, which has been happening for the last few years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think the Patriots&#8217; defense will keep this one competitive, but Buffalo needs this one to keep pace with Kansas City for the #1 seed. I think<\/span><b> Buffalo wins 27-13.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> But I\u2019m hoping that the Patriots&#8217; offense finally shows us something.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Quick Hitters For the Patriots and the NFL:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Matthew Slater: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 15-year veteran STs ace, who has been named to 10 Pro Bowls, could possibly be playing in his last game today against the Bills. But he received some lofty praise from Bill Belichick, who compared Slater to Lawrence Taylor, the Giants\u2019 HOF linebacker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;(Slater) gets double-teamed on virtually every coverage play, with very few exceptions,\u201d Belichick said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe\u2019s the guy that everybody pays a lot of attention to. To the benefit of other players, they get less attention. But I think when you see players at that level, different, but literally, he gets it on every play, just like (Lawrence) Taylor got it on every play for the Giants. When you get that kind of attention, and you\u2019re still able to be productive, that tends to put those players on a very elite level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMatt\u2019s a great person, great player, great teammate,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cIt\u2019s about as close to perfect as you could get. So, he\u2019s been a great asset to me personally. Been a great asset to our team and organization on multiple levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s something I see every day. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any day that he doesn\u2019t motivate, lead, and provide an example for every one of us, players, coaches, everybody around him. So, yeah, it\u2019s been great this week. It\u2019s great every week. It\u2019s great every day,\u201d Belichick added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Sean Payton: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Broncos were given permission by the Saints to enter into negotiations with the former Saints coach. Because Payton was still under contract with New Orleans, he signed an extension that ran through 2024, so any team that wants to hire Payton must first seek permission from New Orleans to negotiate with him. However, the NFL stated that any negotiations can\u2019t begin until January 17.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then there is the matter of compensation, which can be worked out later if the team, in this case, Denver, comes to an agreement with Payton. However, given the draft capital that the Broncos gave up to sign Russell Wilson, would Payton be interested?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jake Bailey: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Patriots punter hasn\u2019t played since Week 9, after being placed on IR. However, Bailey was expecting to be activated for the final two regular-season games, but the Patriots moved Bailey and <\/span><b>Jack Jones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from IR to the suspended list, reportedly for missing rehab assignments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bailey, however, didn\u2019t take it lying down, and his agent released a statement that fired back on the Patriots. Mike Reiss of ESPN said that Doug Hendrickson, Bailey\u2019s agent, posted, &#8220;While Jake Bailey was on IR, he never missed a single treatment, meeting or practice.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;He was hoping to come off IR to play last weekend, but Jake was informed he was being suspended these last two games. This comes as a surprise, given his full participation during injury reserve. We have filed a grievance to fight this unknown suspension.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jones\u2019 agent Jamal Tooson,\u00a0 said in a statement, \u201cJack is focused on recovering and getting back to help the Patriots as soon as possible. Regarding the suspension, it appears to be based on miscommunication regarding Jack\u2019s rehab process. I\u2019m hopeful we\u2019ll reach an amicable resolution for both Jack and the Patriots.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because they are suspended, Bailey and Jones will lose out on game-day checks. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll hear more of this one in the future\u2026stay tuned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Matt Sokol\/Calvin Munson: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Patriots activated both players off the practice squad in time for the Bills game. Sokol was the backup tight end last week against the Dolphins. Munson should see some action on STs, but has been activated for the first time this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Patriots 4th &amp; 2 Podcast:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you haven\u2019t checked out our<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/cottage-talk\/patriots-fourth-and-two-blog-talk-radio-feed\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PatsFans.com podcast,<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPatriots 4th &amp; 2\u201d, in a bit, please check it out. Russ, Derek, and I looked at the Dolphins game and previewed the Bills game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Russ Francis\/Chuck Fairbanks:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The former Patriot tight end and head coach both should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that especially Francis isn\u2019t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders\u2019 Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position&#8230;this will be on our Sunday posts until it happens.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Week 18 Game Predictions:<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The slate of games for Week 18 and my predictions are straight up for this week. There are no more bye weeks in the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Saturday Football<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kansas City over Las Vegas<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jacksonville over Tennessee<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Sunday<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tampa Bay over Atlanta<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffalo over New England<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minnesota over Chicago<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cincinnati over Baltimore<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indianapolis over Houston<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miami over NY Jets<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Orleans over Carolina<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pittsburgh over Cleveland<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LA Chargers over Denver<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philadelphia over NY Giants<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Francisco over Arizona<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seattle over LA Rams<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dallas over Washington<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Sunday Night Football:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detroit over Green Bay<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Last Week:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 11\u20144 *MNF suspended<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>This Season: \u00a0 164\u201487\u20142<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Last Season: \u00a0 182\u201488\u20141<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>2020 Season: \u00a0 169\u201486\u20141<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>2019 Season: \u00a0 162\u201493\u20141<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">______________<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yeah, I think you captured it pretty well. That&#8217;s really what it is. Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game. I mean, I don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s ever been or ever going to be a player than Matt Slater as an overall special teams player and the leadership he brought to the team, along with Devin.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDevin came in as a corner, went to the Pro Bowl, moved to safety, led the defense from the safety position from his second year on. His off-the-the field leadership, on-the-field leadership is superior, as good as anybody I&#8217;ve ever coached at that position. He does everything right. He&#8217;s done everything right since he&#8217;s been here. He knows the line calls. He knows the defense inside and out, so he has total respect from everybody because of his preparation and his unselfish play.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSame thing for Slater. I don&#8217;t know if he was here either, same question, but probably. What those two guys have done, what they mean to this organization, what they mean to me personally, what they&#8217;ve done here, it&#8217;s pretty impressive, pretty elite. So, you know, I&#8217;m sure Devin would have liked to have had one more interception on the ledger today but he gave us, again you just don&#8217;t see a lot of great plays that he makes, communication or adjustments he makes. When we have to change coverages, make coverage adjustments, it always runs through him.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe front runs through a lot of times [Ja&#8217;Whaun] Bentley, down safeties. But all coverage adjustments run through him. It&#8217;s like truly having a coach on the field, having somebody that can see a problem, fix it, or at least take us out of a problem because of whatever, they sub late, the formation, whatever it happens to be. He&#8217;s got great judgment and great decision making.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHis decisions are quick, they&#8217;re decisive, and they&#8217;re almost always right. Any decision is a bad decision if you&#8217;re hesitant and everybody doesn&#8217;t get it. Making sure that we&#8217;re all on the same page, that&#8217;s always number one. Yeah, he&#8217;s a special one. He&#8217;s a special one..<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriots head coach Bill Belichick asked about the veteran leadership of S Devin McCourty, who commented that it may have been his last game in Gillette Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">_______________<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo, how was your week?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at<\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/patspub.patsfans.com\/stevebpatsfans@gmail.com\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listen to our<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriots 4th and 2<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcasts on Stitcher and Streamyard as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from<\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PatsFans.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":45043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23149,23151,11,10],"tags":[34,46,23210,2010,121,2019,22508,22237,44,8],"class_list":["post-45121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2022-patriots-regular-season","category-2022-patriots-season","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-bill-belichick","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-damar-hamlin","tag-damien-harris","tag-devin-mccourty","tag-jakobi-meyers","tag-kendrick-bourne","tag-matthew-judon","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-patriots"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today? | PatsFans.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PatsFans.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pfans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.balestrieri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Balestrieri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SteveB7SFG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@patsfans\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Balestrieri\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71433b60b6fa7632bd955481ae49f3da\"},\"headline\":\"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1756,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bill Belichick\",\"Buffalo Bills\",\"Damar Hamlin\",\"Damien Harris\",\"Devin McCourty\",\"Jakobi Meyers\",\"Kendrick Bourne\",\"Matthew Judon\",\"New England Patriots\",\"Patriots\"],\"articleSection\":[\"2022 Patriots Regular Season\",\"2022 Patriots Season\",\"Patriots Commentary\",\"Patriots News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Jan 1, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the field for warm ups before the start of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/08\\\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Patriots Commentary\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/patriots-commentary\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PatsFans.com\",\"description\":\"Patriots Blog with News and Analysis\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PatsFans.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/PF_Social_Logo.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/PF_Social_Logo.webp\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"PatsFans.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pfans\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/patsfans\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/patsfans\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/patsfans\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/patsfans\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@patsfans.official\"],\"foundingDate\":\"2000-06-17\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71433b60b6fa7632bd955481ae49f3da\",\"name\":\"Steve Balestrieri\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve Balestrieri\"},\"description\":\"A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/steve.balestrieri\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/SteveB7SFG\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.patsfans.com\\\/patriots\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/sbalestrieri\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?","description":"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today? | PatsFans.com","og_description":"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/","og_site_name":"PatsFans.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pfans","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.balestrieri","article_published_time":"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Balestrieri","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SteveB7SFG","twitter_site":"@patsfans","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve Balestrieri","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/71433b60b6fa7632bd955481ae49f3da"},"headline":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?","datePublished":"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/"},"wordCount":1756,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Bill Belichick","Buffalo Bills","Damar Hamlin","Damien Harris","Devin McCourty","Jakobi Meyers","Kendrick Bourne","Matthew Judon","New England Patriots","Patriots"],"articleSection":["2022 Patriots Regular Season","2022 Patriots Season","Patriots Commentary","Patriots News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/","name":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-08T10:00:08+00:00","description":"Devin has done about everything a player could do for this program. Say the same thing about Matt Slater in the kicking game","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Jan 1, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the field for warm ups before the start of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/patriots-news-01-08-will-the-patriots-play-on-after-today\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Patriots Commentary","item":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/category\/patriots-commentary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Patriots News 01-08, Will The Patriots Play On After Today?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/","name":"PatsFans.com","description":"Patriots Blog with News and Analysis","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#organization","name":"PatsFans.com","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PF_Social_Logo.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PF_Social_Logo.webp","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"PatsFans.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pfans","https:\/\/x.com\/patsfans","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/patsfans","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/patsfans\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/patsfans","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@patsfans.official"],"foundingDate":"2000-06-17"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/71433b60b6fa7632bd955481ae49f3da","name":"Steve Balestrieri","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfc4c29c648a043b9caafa2dddd23d6eff929a8dee4095b872f8bdd1a072f2cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steve Balestrieri"},"description":"A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.balestrieri","https:\/\/x.com\/SteveB7SFG"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/author\/sbalestrieri\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/USATSI_19708810_168390408_lowres-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45122,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45121\/revisions\/45122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}