Pats Pulpit
With only two games remaining on the schedule, the New England Patriots’ regular season is nearing its end. The first of those contests will see the team of head coach Mike Vrabel — playoff ticket in hand — travel to New York to take on the Jets in what is a must-win game despite the two rivals’ record disparity: the easiest way for the Patriots to capture the AFC East title is to go 2-0 in the next two games.
Naturally, our non-holiday focus this week was primarily on that particular contest. With that said, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Quarterback Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez are representing the Patriots in this season’s Pro Bowl. But while both have expressed their gratitude for being voted to the league’s all-star game, they made it clear this week that their focus lies elsewhere.
“A big thing is respect in this league. So, appreciative of it and glad about the honor,” Gonzalez told reporters at his Gillette Stadium locker earlier in the week. “But we have big things and big games to play ahead. That’s what we’re focused on.”
Gonzalez, a second-team All-Pro a year ago, has made his first Pro Bowl in three seasons in the NFL. Maye, meanwhile, has some experience already: as a rookie, he was named to the event as an alternate injury replacement.
While the Pro Bowl Games are little more than a light-hearted get-together between some of the league’s best players (whose teams did not qualify for the Super Bowl), Maye did see value in his participation.
“I was probably the last choice. They finally got somebody that would go,” he said. “I was a rookie, and was like, ‘Hey, it would be cool to maybe try it out.’ And no, it was definitely awesome being around the older players, veterans and quarterbacks. I was around Joe Burrow and Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl; I got to spend time with him. For me, it was a time that was awesome. I was with Baker [Mayfield], [Jared] Goff on the other side and Sam Darnold.
“Those guys, it’s good to know how they carry themselves. You hear them talk about their season, losing in the playoffs and little things like that that is just invaluable for me as a young player of what it’s like and seeing how bad that taste in their mouth was and how bad they want to win. It strives for what this league’s about, and that’s everybody getting to the playoffs, winning playoff games and getting to the big game. So, it was really cool for me to be around some of the other players that you see.”
Despite getting a look at some of his peers, Maye echoed Gonzalez’s point about more important challenges lying directly ahead.
“Obviously, you want to play this game at a high level, and you...
