The Patriots are back at work Wednesday with Week 3 already pointing toward Jacksonville, and the biggest task for Mike Vrabel’s staff is figuring out how to clean up the mess from Sunday while managing the physical injuries that piled up in the process.
New England’s offense is still the main story. The concern isn’t just what it did against the Steelers - it’s how often the unit hurt itself.
That theme shows up again and again in the local coverage, with Kevin Stephan noting that self-inflicted errors are dragging the offense down and that Vrabel is aware of it. The Patriots now have a short week of planning ahead of them before they head to Jacksonville, where they’ll try to show how much progress they’ve made since these two teams last met in October, 2024 in London during the Jerod Mayo year.
There are also moving parts on the roster. The Patriots placed OL Mike Onwenu on Injured Reserve, signed P Mitch Wishnowsky to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, and added TE Tanner Conner to the practice squad. Alex Barth also reported the team filled the open roster spot left by Onwenu’s IR move with Wishnowsky.
The offensive line remains a work in progress, and Hector Longo writes that New England has a couple of options at right guard but still doesn’t have a finished product up front. That’s part of the broader issue for the offense, especially with the pressure around Drake Maye continuing to draw attention.
Longo also notes that Pro Football Focus has Maye’s grade under pressure at 26.8 through two weeks, a number that has put him in Justin Herbert territory. Meghan Ottolini, meanwhile, looks at a decade’s worth of Super Bowl-losing quarterbacks to ask whether Maye’s early sluggishness says anything about his own trajectory and what this season may reveal.
There is at least one major bright spot worth circling. Christian Gonzalez’s work against DK Metcalf drew rave reviews, with Evan Lazar breaking down the best moments from Gonzalez’s tape, and Nick Goss pointing to the numbers behind Gonzalez’s dominance.
Conor Ryan adds that Gonzalez is already living up to his record-breaking contract through two games. That’s a strong note for a defense that needed one.
The rest of the Week 2 fallout is still being sorted through as the Patriots turn the page. Vrabel’s X’s and O’s breakdown from the Steelers game, the Week 2 sights and sounds, Patriots Catch-22, and Patriots Unfiltered all focus on the same blend of good and bad, plus the injury and offensive questions that came out of Sunday.
Ethan Hurwitz also dug into the snap counts from the Steelers game and how injuries forced depth players into bigger roles. Phil Perry’s latest Stock Up, Stock Down recap is part of that same postgame review.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Alex Barth’s opponent preview gets readers up to speed on the Jaguars, while his broadcast information piece lays out how to watch and stream the Week 3 game. Barth also reported that Alex Kemp will referee Patriots-Jaguars, and that this crew generally throws fewer flags. Cameron Filipe’s Week 3 referee assignments confirm Kemp for the game.
There’s also a broader league context rolling in around the Patriots. Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano’s Week 3 buzz piece includes Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. Ben Solak, in ESPN’s Seven things entering Week 3, goes as far as to say, “I think ... the Patriots’ offense is fine, though I understand why people think otherwise.”
Elsewhere in the football world, Adam Vinatieri set a Guinness World Record for the highest altitude American football field goal, and Mark Schultz reported that the NFL officiating boss has instructed officials to slow down before throwing flags.
In Other News...
Mac Jones Just Became A Painful Patriots What-If Again
Mac Jones is back in the conversation in a way Patriots fans know all too well: not as a starter in New England, but as the quarterback who left town, found a steadier footing elsewhere and suddenly looks like he may have been worth more than the return the Patriots got. After being traded to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick following a rough 2023 season, Jones resurfaced with the 49ers in 2025 and handled starting duty well enough to reignite the old debate about what he might have been if things had broken differently in Foxborough.
The latest wrinkle is that San Francisco plans to keep him as a backup in 2026, even as his play has reportedly attracted interest around the league. Teams such as the Falcons and Commanders could be part of any trade discussion, and Jones' pending free agency in 2027 only adds another layer to a situation that feels very much alive again. For the Patriots, it is another reminder that the Mac Jones era has not stayed neatly in the past. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots May Have A Rare Chance To Buy Low On Marvin Harrison Jr
A.J. Browns injury has only sharpened the need for teams around the league to think creatively about receiver help, and it has pushed Marvin Harrison Jr. into the conversation for New England. The Patriots have been searching for more offensive weapons, and Harrisons limited early production has only added to the idea that Arizona could be facing an awkward early-stage evaluation of a highly touted young pass catcher.
For the Patriots, the appeal is obvious: a chance to buy low on a receiver whose talent still makes him worth betting on, even if the fit has not yet fully clicked elsewhere. The question is whether New England would see him as a piece that could grow with its offense and whether Arizona would even entertain moving him, but the possibility alone gives the Patriots a rare kind of swing at a premium position. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Suddenly Have A Bigger Offensive Line Problem Than Expected
The Patriots offensive line took a hit this week when Mike Onwenu was placed on injured reserve with a fractured right ankle, a setback that will sideline him at least four games and could end his season. Onwenu had been a key part of New Englands protection up front, and losing him now forces the team to adjust again in the middle of a stretch where stability on the interior has already been hard to come by.
Greg Van Roten has stepped into Onwenus starting spot at right guard, giving the Patriots a veteran replacement as they try to keep the line together. In a corresponding move, New England promoted punter Mitch Wishnowsky from the practice squad to the active roster to help fill out the depth chart, another reminder that one injury can ripple beyond a single position when the roster is already being managed carefully. [Read more 🡒]