1. Five years ago this month, the Patriots made a stunning trade by sending linebacker Jamie Collins to the Browns for a third-round pick. This week, the Patriots traded away cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Panthers in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2023. Based on the reactions from the locker room, the moves feel similar in Bill Belichick trading away great players to the surprise of many inside the facility. Surprised and stunned were the words used by players in 2016 when asked about the move, and it was a similar feeling this week. “It sucks,” Adrian Phillips said Friday. Kyle Van Noy said it was “disappointing,” while JC Jackson said he was “shocked.” While Gilmore is on PUP and coming off a torn quad, he still projected to be the Patriots’ No. 1 cornerback when he got back on the field, so trading him away for a late-round pick in two years seems puzzling. Especially when the team spent so much money in the offseason on free agents, now it’s trading away one of its best players? It sends a mixed message. But, following the Collins trade in 2016 the Patriots won 10 of their next 11 games to win the Super Bowl. We’re not saying it will happen again this year, but there’s evidence Belichick can use a move like this as a positive and get his team back on track.
2. While Patriots tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith both recorded touchdowns last week against Tampa Bay, they need to produce more. Henry has 141 yards receiving, which is 17th among tight ends, while Smith has 88 yards receiving, which is 27th. Given how much money the Patriots are paying these two players, more is expected. Look for Josh McDaniels to try and get these two more involved in the offense beginning this week.
3. It will be interesting to see what kind of role Jamie Collins has for the Patriots and which player he takes snaps away from most. It likely won’t be one specific player, but look for Dont’a Hightower, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Kyle Van Noy, Chase Winovich and Josh Uche all to see a slight dip in their snap counts with Collins now back for his third stint. It likely will take a few weeks for the coaching staff to figure out how best utilize Collins this go-around.
4. A popular media narrative after the two-point loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday night was it was a moral victory considering the Buccaneers are the defending Super Bowl champs and one of the best teams in the league. That wasn’t the case inside the locker room, which a few players eluded to this week. “We don't really do moral victories around here,” Phillips said. “This game is all about wins and losses. That was a high-powered offense. We did what we did. But it wasn't enough to win the game. There were still things out there that we have to fix. To the media and to everybody else, yeah, 19 points to a high-powered offense, whatever. … But, for us, it wasn't enough to win the game so we gotta be even better.”
5. The Patriots running backs room is likely the closest position group on the team. “I will say this: Out of every (position) room I’ve seen in here, the running backs have been the tightest,” Brandon Bolden said this week. He also revealed all the group text messages there are. “Like, me, LG (LeGarrette Blount), Dion (Lewis) and James (White) still have our group chat (from 2016),” he said. “Me, Shane (Vereen), Rid (Stevan Ridley) and Danny (Woodhead) still have our group chat (from 2012). And (one from) James’ rookie year with Shane (in 2014). So it depends on what year and which group chat you’re talking about. We’ve still got Sony (Michel) in our (2021) group chat. So we all stick together.”
6. Did you know that since 1978 201 teams have started the year 1-4, and of those teams just 12 (6%) have made the playoffs. This illustrates how big of a game Sunday is for the Patriots if they have any chance of making the postseason.
7. This coming week the Patriots will host the Cowboys in a highly-anticipated matchup between two of the most popular NFL franchises. The game will be be a cross-over TV game as CBS will air it with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on the call for the first time this season. On the field, the Patriots will certainly need to look to improve their run defense as going into Week 5, Dallas is second in the NFL in rushing, averaging 165.8 yards per game.