New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots and their fan base have reason to be optimistic heading into a Week 1 battle with the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. The Pats will be playing a winnable game at home, setting up a favorable beginning to the Mike Vrabel era in New England.
Of course, the Raiders — under new head coach Pete Carroll — are more than capable of spoiling Vrabel’s debut, especially considering that Las Vegas boasts some menacing weapons that the Patriots might struggle to deal with defensively.
At the top of that list, according to Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams, is second-year beast Brock Bowers. The 22-year-old tight end was a first-team All-Pro in his rookie season last year and finished No. 2 in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels.
In speaking with the media on Thursday, Williams mentioned Bowers first when the DC was asked about the challenges that Las Vegas presents. Williams also provided a quote about Bowers that doesn’t make the Georgia product sound at all stoppable.
“A receiver in a tight end’s body,” Williams said of Bowers, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Containing Bowers will be even more difficult if the Patriots are without cornerback Christian Gonzalez, which is rumored to be the case. Williams was more coy with his words when asked about Gonzalez’s status for Sunday, saying, per MassLive’s Mark Daniels, that, “We still have a little bit of time before we play… We feel good about our secondary.”
If New England’s defense struggles on Sunday, Bowers figures to be at the root of their issues.
Of course, Las Vegas will have its own concerns on defense in dealing with guys like Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs, TreVeyon Henderson and Kayshon Boutte.
Perhaps it’ll be a high-flying, high-scoring affair at Gillette on Sunday.
