New England Patriots links 5/16/25 - 2025 Patriots ready for primetime?

Daily news and links for Friday.

TEAM TALK

• Julieann Challacombe writes how the Patriots can expect a locker room leader in Julian Ashby. The rookie long snapper is the dependable, team-first player the Patriots need as they continue to establish culture.
• Press Conferences: Christian Barmore and Jack Gibbens. (13 min. video)
• Patriots Unfiltered Interview: Patriots LB Jack Gibbens (8 min. video)
• Patriots Unfiltered: 2025 Schedule breakdown, Jack Gibbens in-studio; More. (2 hours)

LOCAL LINKS

• Alex Barth revisits one of Mike Vrabel’s early goals to lay out the Patriots path to double-digit wins. “We just want to be good enough to take advantage of bad football. That’s where we’re going to start.”
• Alec Shane weighs in with the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Patriots’ 2025 schedule.
• Conor Ryan ranks the Pats’ schedule from least (Week 8 vs. Browns) to most exciting (Week 12 @ Bengals) games.
• Mike D’Abate picks his 5 most intriguing matchups on the Patriots schedule. 1. Week 1 vs. Raiders.
• Ian Logue thinks we will see a slate of games that, for the most part, favors success for the Pats. 3 of first 4 games are at home for New England to kick things off.
• Scott McLaughlin gives us 5 takeaways from Patriots’ 2025 schedule. 3. The primetime games are ticking up.
• Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry share Patriots record predictions after schedule release.
• Andrew Callahan highlights DL Christian Barmore who expects to play Week 1, and opens up about blood clots.
• Karen Guregian notes Christian Barmore loves what the Patriots have cooking on defense.
• Taylor Kyles posts a few gifs showing what a Patriots Defensive line led by Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, and Keon White is capable of.
• Mark Daniels mentions how Milton Williams and Christian Barmore are already helping each other.
• Matthew Schmidt looks at how rookie Will Campbell will be tested right off the bat in the 2025 NFL season.
• Keagan Stiefel takes an in-depth look at rookie safety Craig Woodson: Woodson’s undefined role will make for a tough roster decision.
• Lauren Campbell highlights Drew Bledsoe on “Up and Adams” on how he thinks Drake Maye’s run game has the ability to be a ‘backbreaker’.
• Jerry Thornton explains why he believes the decision to sign Milton Williams looks better by the day.
• Sara Marshall relays Carmen Vitali (FOX Sports) predicting Will Campbell to be the Patriots’ most impactful rookie.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Bill Bender (Sporting News) Ranking the 5 best and worst prime-time games in 2025. Worst: 1. Giants at Patriots, [MNF] Week 13; 4. Jets at Patriots, [TNF] Week 11.
• Vinny Iyer (Sporting News) Ranking best games on 2025 NFL schedule from every team. No. 18 Patriots (vs. Raiders). /Click for commentary.
• Tyler Dragon (USA Today) Must-watch games on the 2025 schedule. No Pats.
• Jori Epstein (Yahoo! Sports) 10 must-watch grudge matches of 2025 NFL season. 4th:...