The Patriots have stacked back-to-back wins and suddenly look like a team finding its stride, but Sunday at Gillette Stadium still comes with a few obvious pressure points. New England sits at 3-2, the Jets arrive after a rainy win over the Browns, and this matchup feels like one the Patriots should handle if they clean up the details.
The biggest boost comes on offense, where health is finally beginning to tilt in the right direction. A.J.
Brown is back after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain, and his activation to the 53-man roster on Saturday sets him up for his home Patriots debut. That gives an already improved receiver group another layer.
“I think it definitely opens up other parts of the field and other parts of the game for guys,” Drake Maye said this week about Brown's role in the offense. “I think you see it in the NBA.
It's probably the closest thing that I can think of. When they start doubling the best player once they get past half court, then they're just leaving a corner 3 open or leaving a guy open for a dunk.
So, it's kind of like playing receiver and with a guy like that - we've got a lot of guys that have made plays now, so it's going to be tough on defenses. But I know we've got a tough challenge this week, so looking forward to it.”
New England is also expected to have TreVeyon Henderson and Will Campbell back after both missed the end of last week’s win. Henderson, dealing with an ankle issue after an MRI revealed a high-ankle sprain, and Campbell, who has been managing a knee injury, were both listed as questionable but are set to play. That matters for a running game that has yet to really break through, even if Henderson’s workload could depend on how he feels after looking good in practice.
The Jets offense brings a different kind of problem. This is not the Geno Smith the Patriots saw back when he was with the Jets, and now he has a chance to beat New England for the third straight season with his third different team, following wins with the Seahawks in 2024 and the Raiders in 2025. He has not thrown an interception this season, which puts even more pressure on a Patriots defense that has made a habit of taking the ball away.
That challenge lands squarely on the safeties. New England will be without corners Carlton Davis and Karon Prunty for a second straight game, though Christian Gonzalez is set to return.
The interception-heavy burden falls more on Craig Woodson, who sealed the Buffalo game with a pick two weeks ago, and Kevin Byard, who led the NFL in interceptions a week ago. With Breece Hall out, the Jets may be forced to throw more than they want.
Drake Maye is also coming off the kind of performance that can change a week. Against the Raiders, he was just under 400 total yards, accounted for five touchdowns and helped drive a 40-point outing for New England after a rocky start to the season.
“He looked very calm. Again, when we give him clean pockets, he's very accurate down the field,” Mike Vrabel said Monday on Maye's performance.
“He maybe only had a few, I would say, wrong decisions or where he wanted to go with the football. Just seemed very in control, very confident.
When he felt like he needed to run, he was decisive. Then we put the ball in his hands down in the red zone, and he was able to make a guy miss.”
Even with that surge, the next step is obvious. The Jets enter with the NFL’s fourth-ranked total defense and fifth-ranked scoring defense, and New England has turned the ball over at least once in every game this season. If the Patriots want another smooth afternoon, Maye and company have to protect the football.
In Other News...
Elijah Ponder Is Changing The Patriots Pass Rush Conversation
When the Patriots rebuilt their edge-rush picture this offseason, the attention mostly went to the bigger moves, including the addition of DreMont Jones and the expectation that rookies Gabe Jacas and Elijah Ponder would have to grow up quickly at outside linebacker. With Harold Landry sidelined, the early concern was obvious enough: whether New England had enough depth to keep the pass rush from sputtering. Ponder has helped answer that in a hurry, turning what looked like a vulnerable spot into one of the more encouraging parts of the defense.
The most recent sign came against the Raiders, where Ponders disruption stood out enough to draw league-wide notice from Pro Football Focus. He has been showing up with sacks, tackles for loss and a forced fumble, all while making the Patriots look a lot more comfortable about their edge rotation than they did in the spring. For a team still sorting out its post-rebuild identity, that kind of emergence matters, even if the larger question around how far this pass rush can go is still hanging out there. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots May Have Already Won Big With This Criticized Signing
When the Patriots brought in Alijah Vera-Tucker in free agency after spending their first-round pick on Caleb Lomu, the move came with a fair amount of skepticism. Vera-Tuckers injury history made him an easy target for second-guessing, but through the early stretch of his Patriots tenure, he has looked like one of the most reliable pieces on the offensive line and has helped steady a group that needed it.
The workload is about to get a little heavier, too, with Will Campbell sidelined by a knee injury. Vera-Tucker will be asked to handle more responsibility in the days ahead, and his next assignment will be a tough one, with a matchup looming against Jets rookie edge rusher David Bailey. For a signing that was criticized at the start, the Patriots may already be seeing why it made so much sense. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face A Familiar Cornerback Question They Can't Ignore
The Patriots were already thin at cornerback when injuries stacked up against the Raiders, leaving the group scrambling with multiple starters and backups unavailable. New England responded by elevating safety Elliott Davison for depth and bringing rookie Al'zillion Hamilton onto the practice squad, but he was not yet active, which only underlined how quickly the room can get stretched when the injuries start piling up.
One familiar name has also re-entered the conversation after a recent roster move in Dallas, and it is the kind of transaction the Patriots tend to monitor closely when a position gets this shaky. With the secondary banged up and the depth chart under pressure, New England has a choice to make about whether to look outside the building for another answer or trust the patchwork approach a little longer. [Read more 🡒]