Patriots debut new individual player introductions at Gillette Stadium

For over two decades, the New England Patriots have run out of the tunnel during pregame introductions as a team before games at Gillette Stadium. That streak came to an end on Sunday.

As a part of a new pregame introduction format, the Patriots still ran most of the team out of the tunnel while Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train played over the PA system. Rather than running the length of the field down the sideline or to the bench though those players ran to midfield and formed a tunnel.

After that, the offensive starters were introduced one-by-one. Each player got a chance to run out of the inflatable helmet and by their teammates solo.

That's the way most teams in the NFL handle introductions. In the past in New England, either offensive or defensive starters were announced over the PA, but earlier during warmups without each player getting any sort of on-field recognition short of a graphic on the video board.

"Just feel like these guys put a lot into it and would like to recognize him individually," head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game when asked about the change. "Hopefully our fans can embrace that and get excited for them. It's something that I felt like we wanted to do, create some energy early and get them to recognize the players' efforts, and allow these fans to support us, which they did. It was getting loud on third down. We've got to continue to play hard for them so that they cheer for us."

The final player out of the tunnel was quarterback Drake Maye, who said after the game he enjoyed the experience.

"Yeah, I was a little bit nervous for it," Maye recalled. "I got literally no swag, so I just go out there and run. I think the guys enjoyed it. I think it was cool kind of hanging back there in the back being the last one."

What did make things a little tricky was the spacing of the players, who sometimes were still running when the next player's name was being called.

"I think the first like ten guys, they had the wrong name and ran out too fast. I think we'll work on it," Maye joked. "I think the fans, maybe it was new for them too, so they'll have to adjust. Maybe next time they'll be ready for it. I think it was loud. They're loud every time we do the call outs. So that's it."

If the result is any indication the Patriots are likely to stick with the tradition. Following the introductions the Patriots went on to beat the Cleveland Browns 32-13, and the introduced offense accounted for a season-high 422 yards at 6.5 yards per play.

A change at home might be good for the Patriots, too. Entering Sunday the team was 12-25 at Gillette Stadium since the start of the 2021 season, giving them the fewest home wins of any team in the NFL in that span.