1 – Pat Patriot will return to Gillette Stadium for the first time since 2012 for Sunday’s battle with the Lions. Thanks to the NFL’s new rule once again allowing teams to use multiple helmets during the season, New England will wear its popular red throwback jerseys against Detroit, also donning the white helmets with the Pat Patriot logo that it wore prior to the 1993 season. Pat Patriot and Patriots written in an old-school, ‘80s-era font will also take over the field surface and surroundings at Gillette.
“Super cool,” center David Andrews said of the logo. “But really the only thing that matters is playing the Lions. Look good or whatever, it really doesn’t matter.”
Andrews explained that the first time he saw the logo was as a high school player attending a Nike football camp. Former Patriots center Pete Brock was one of the instructors at the camp and had Pat Patriot tattooed on his leg. But Andrews made it clear that a cool logo, red jerseys and new helmets weren’t the focus of the players this week.
“It’s a good looking logo, but it really just matters what we do,” Andrews declared. “If we go out there and lose I’m not going to be super excited wearing new jerseys.”
“I tend to agree with Dave on that one. I think the hype about that is for the fans,” fellow captain Devin McCourty said. “We’re gonna put red jerseys in the pro shop, go buy a new red jersey it’ll make some money. I think for us it’s about going out there and playing good football, going out there and trying to get a win. 1-3, we want that winning feeling on Sunday. We haven’t had it but one time this year. So I think that’s been the focus. That’s a good thing. Guys aren’t in the locker room talking about the excitement of red jerseys and a white helmet. Guys are locked in.”
Asked if this was a must win game for the Patriots after a 1-3 start to the season, defensive captain Deatrich Wise simply said, “W’s are very important.”
2 – It’s Week 5, but this will be just the second home game for the Patriots this season. In fact, New England has been on the road for the bulk of the last two months thanks to a week of joint practices in Las Vegas to close out the preseason and nearly a week of preparation at Palm Beach Atlantic University prior to the opener in Miami that was one of three road games in the first four weeks of the season.
“It’s been different,” McCourty said. “I’ll say you don’t really think about it, you kind of just go. You try to take it one day at a time and control what you can control. But I would definitely say from my time in the league it feels like because of the way the preseason ended and then going on the road and practicing in Miami it feels like we’ve barely been here.
“Because we’ve been away so much it feels good to be back home and feels good to have an opportunity to play in front of our crowd again and hopefully this Sunday walk away with a win.”
3 – Tyquan Thornton had a very impressive summer. Unfortunately the second-round rookie wide receiver’s development was derailed when he suffered a broken collarbone in the second game of the preseason against the Panthers. Though reports indicated that it could take the speedy pass catcher as long as eight weeks to recover from surgery to repair the injury, New England activated Thornton to the roster in advance of Sunday’s game against the Lions. Given that Thornton was added to the active roster after missing the minimum four games required by IR rules, it would seem likely he will make his NFL debut against Detroit. And given the impressive speed, route running and hands he displayed during training camp practice and preseason action, Thornton has the potential to add an immediate spark to the Patriots’ passing game against the worst defense in the NFL through a month of action.
4 – While Thornton will be making his NFL debut, Bailey Zappe is expected to make his first NFL start against Detroit. The rookie fourth-round pick acquitted himself quite well coming on for fill-in starter Brian Hoyer last Sunday in Green Bay, starter Mac Jones already sidelined to an ankle injury. Zappe said this week he’s taking his preparations “day by day” but also feels like the experience of his first NFL game should help as he steps on the field for the second time. His work behind the scenes and efforts against the Packers certainly impressed his veteran teammates.
“I would say the guy’s going out there in practice every day working his butt off,” McCourty said of Zappe. “I think that’s the cool thing about sports and about individual players. You put the preparation in that most people don’t see. I thought that was cool to see, he got an opportunity and it was obvious that he wasn’t just in here working the scout team and that was it. He was preparing, getting ready to go for when his number was called. From a player’s standpoint, his work ethic since he’s been here as a young rookie quarterback, you have to outwork everybody else. You can’t work the same as the other rookies. Playing quarterback in this league isn’t the same as playing corner in this league, or linebacker or defensive line or offensive line. You have to put more work in and obviously he’s been doing that.
“It’s a good feeling knowing, I think for a young guy, that your team is counting on you. Really it wasn’t expected to be counted on. Early in the game (in Green Bay), stepped in and did a good job of just leading the group, being confident, going out there making plays. I think it proves that when we come in here and say ‘Next guy up’ and we say those things, I think sometimes it becomes cliché. But it’s the truth. It was cool to see him step up. We’ll be expecting him to continue to progress this year being ready to go.”
5 – Injuries have certainly altered the Patriots starting lineup and even rotations at a variety of positions early this season. One spot that could see an alteration in terms of playing time based on performance as much as injury is right tackle. Former first-round pick Isaiah Wynn started the first four games of the year on the right side, switching from his former left tackle spot now occupied by Trent Brown. Wynn’s play has been inconsistent at best over the first month. He’s now dealing with a hip injury and he was actually replaced by veteran Marcus Cannon for 25 snaps (43 percent) against the Packers last Sunday in Green Bay.
It was the first game back in a Patriots’ uniform for Cannon, who was a key offensive line cog at right tackle in New England from 2011-19. After a year in Houston, Cannon signed with the Patriots practice squad Sept. 13.
Working behind the scenes to get in shape without the luxury of a training camp, Cannon was elevated to the active roster as a practice squad call-up and has since signed to the permanent 53.
While Cannon certainly adds veteran experience and depth to the offensive line group, the possibility of him taking over the job at right tackle for Wynn can’t be ruled out at this point. Whether that’s because Wynn is officially “Questionable” due to a hip injury or because of his questionable performance this season may be debatable.
6 – Jack Jones made maybe the biggest play of the game for the Patriots last Sunday in Green Bay, stepping in front of an Aaron Rodger’s out throw late in the second quarter and returning the interception for a touchdown to give New England the 10-7 halftime lead. It was just the fourth pick-6 the future Hall of Famer and MVP has thrown in his career and just his second at Lambeau Field.
After his big play, the confident rookie cornerback also had the biggest quote of the day when he said he sees it as “disrespectful” for a quarterback to try to throw an out route on him. Those words would have been notable for any player on any team, never mind a fourth-round rookie under Bill Belichick’s watch in New England. But the comment didn’t bother the longtime captain and defensive backfield leader McCourty.
“I laugh,” McCourty said with a smile when asked about Jones’ comment. “That’s what it’s about. To be young, be energetic, confident. Listen, he was happy to be out there. Jack was ready to go and I think you can appreciate that. After the game…he made a great play in the game, made a comment about it. It is what it is.
“He’s just gotta make sure he doesn’t give up any outs now.”
7 – Prediction Time: Two 1-3 teams will do battle on what should be a picturesque fall Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Detroit is familiar with slow starts, a team that had the No. 1 overall pick in last April’s draft thanks to three-win season. But this is also the second straight year the Patriots have opened the season with just one win in the first four games. A year ago they then won eight of nine to make a run at the postseason. Now, hitting the supposed “soft” stretch of the schedule against the Lions, Browns, Bears, Jets (twice) and Colts, New England has a similar opportunity. But are they good enough for another run? Are they really that much better than the Lions? Is Bailey Zappe ready to lead the offense to victory until Mac Jones returns to health? At best the Patriots are a mediocre football team right now on both sides of the ball. Detroit has a high-scoring offense and the worst defense in the NFL. Certainly New England should be able to run the ball early and often with the two-headed monster of Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson. Both teams are dealing with injuries to key players. Turnovers will be key for both teams. This might be as hard a game to try to project as any New England has played in recent memory. There’s no way Dan Campbell’s Lions will come into Foxborough and beat Bill Belichick’s Patriots, is there? But Jared Goff is playing good football and the Lions have scored points regardless of the health of their playmakers. Zappe has a big challenge, even if the game plan is based in the running game. In the end, we’re going to go with the Goff-led stunner, a 27-17 Detroit win.
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