By Sophia Sargent NEFJ Correspondent FOXBOROUGH – When it comes to the New England Patriots, the buzz in the press is all about Drake Maye. As the team and Jacoby Brissett continue to disappoint fans, everyone wonders why the Maye era can’t start sooner rather than later. Let’s backtrack, and think about some of the qualities that made the Patriots so amazing before Jerod Mayo’s leadership. Players like Rob Gronkowski…

Images courtesy of JimPlunkett.com & Sports Illustrated  By Alan Segel NEFJ Contributor FOXBOROUGH – With apologies to Mr. Word himself, William Shakespeare, the question is not “to be or not to be?” the question is “Drake or not to Drake?” That’s the prime question on the lips of many Patriot fans these days. Drake Maye of course is the third overall choice in last year’s draft and is the future…

Image courtesy of AP Photos On the bright side, the Patriots showed more fight and a higher compete level against the 49ers on Sunday than they did against the Jets. The bad news is that the ugly 30-13 loss only magnified just how poor this roster is compared to most others in the NFL. To make matters even worse, David Andrews, Caedan Wallace and Kyle Dugger were all injured and…

Coach Hightower is still weird to say for those of us who were out at parties in February of 2017 as fans watching him help lead the Pats to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. But, Hightower has loved his new role since becoming Jerod Mayo’s linebackers coach this spring. His game days look much different now, but he’s finding ways to live through his players after waking up…

FOXBOROUGH – During his usual Wednesday press conference, Jerod Mayo announced that Ja’Whaun Bentley was officially going on season-ending injured reserve. Not only is he a loss on the field, but as a four-time captain, there’s a level of leadership there that’s now missing too. Enter Kyle Dugger. Mayo also announced that Dugger has been named a defensive captain in place of Bentley, who will still be around the team…

FOXBOROUGH – The second Bill O’Brien stint as offensive coordinator of the Patriots didn’t go very well, but that wasn’t necessarily his fault. The Pats were a train wreck across the board in 2023 and O’Brien has shown (as he did previously at Penn State and with the Houston Texans as well) that he’s a very good coach. So far, the O’Brien era at Boston College has been off to…

AP Photo “The Bears are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook!” Remember those famous words from the late Dennis Green after his Arizona Cardinals blew a late lead against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football? Now replace Bears with Patriots and you will know exactly how Patriots fans feel this morning. After last night, the Patriots are who we thought they were. A…

Image courtesy of Associated Press Photos The last time the Jets beat the Patriots in regulation in New Jersey, Rex Ryan was the head coach. Until Thursday night. An ugly performance across the board led to a dominant 24-3 win for the Jets, their first regulation win in the Meadowlands over New England since 2010. The Jets did also beat the Pats in OT in 2013, but New England had…

Early on during Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, Patriots linebacker and main communicator (green dot guy) Ja’Whaun Bentley was flexing his arm repeatedly, moving it around like a pitcher trying to get loose in the bullpen. Shortly thereafter, Bentley left the game and didn’t return. Early reports on Monday speculated that the injury wasn’t that bad and he’d probably be able to play on Thursday night against the Jets. Well,…