What to watch for when the New England Patriots visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
After last week’s win against the New York Jets, the New England Patriots find themselves with a chance to pick up their first back-to-back wins of the 2024 season when they visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Meanwhile, Tennessee is trying to kick a three-game losing streak, and are 1-6 on the season.
Still, there’s plenty on the line in this game when looking at the long-term picture for both franchises. The first-year head coaches on each side are still trying to install their culture and any wins, even with both teams well under .500 at this point, will help do that.
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Both teams are dealing with mounting injuries as well. With both teams in line to make significant roster changes this offseason, this should be a good chance for depth players on both sides to get on the field and make a case why they should be a part of the plan moving forward.
However, there is one young player on each team meant to be a part of the future who may not get on the field in this game – both quarterbacks. We’ll start there as we get into this week’s 5 Things…
Fallout if Drake Maye can’t play
Oct 27, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Joe Milton III (19), quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7), and quarterback Drake Maye (10) walk onto the field before a game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
As of Friday morning, Drake Maye’s status for Sunday remains up in the air. The rookie quarterback was present for the open portion of practice on Thursday, indicating he’d moved on to Phase 4 of the NFL Concussion Protocol. If that is indeed the case, he could potentially be cleared by Friday.
Keep in mind though, being cleared and being available are two different things. Just because a player is out of the protocol, that doesn’t mean he’s a lock to play. Being in the protocol usually limits practice time, and a team may feel a player isn’t prepared enough to play that week even if he is cleared.
For Maye, if he was indeed in fact in Phase 4 on Thursday that would be an encouraging sign. While Phase 4 is a ‘non-contact’ practice, all practices for quarterbacks are non-contact. So if he cleared Phase 4 and is in Phase 5 on Friday, he could get close to two full days of practice this week.
If Maye can’t go, the Patriots will put the game in the hands of Jacoby Brissett. Brissett filled in for Maye last week and played solidly, including leading a late game-winning drive.
“I do have confidence that, if the league says [Maye] is ready to play, that he will be able to go out there and operate. In saying that, I feel very comfortable putting Jacoby in there, as he is a professional and always stays ready, as you could see from the last game,” head coach Jerod Mayo said on Wednesday.” However that plays out, we’ll see.”
In a situation where Maye is inactive and Brissett starts, rookie Joe Milton III would be the backup quarterback. Milton has been dressed as the emergency third quarterback this year but this would be his first time being officially active for an NFL game.
That would mean Milton could see his first NFL action in the state of Tennessee, where he played collegiately at UT. “It’s a special place to me,” Milton told 98.5 when asked about that this week. “Special place in my heart for me and my family. We love Tennessee a lot. It’s done a lot of things for us. If I was to be active for that game, it’d be a blessing.”
While the Tennessee Volunteers play 180 miles away in Knoxville, Milton and the Vols did play one game at Nissan Stadium last year – one that he has fond memories of.
“I want to say three touchdowns…I ran one in, I stiff-armed a dude,” Milton recalled this week. “I’ve got some clips in that stadium for sure.
Catching the ball
Oct 27, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (84) fails to catch a pass thrown by quarterback Jacoby Brissett (not seen) in front of New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Whoever is at quarterback for the Patriots, the wide receivers need to help him out by catching the football. That’s been easier said than done for this team in recent weeks.
Over the last four games the Patriots have a team drop rate of 8.7 percent, per Pro Football Reference. That’s the second-worst in the league in that span (Miami is at 9.9 percent). For the season the Patriots are at 7.4 percent, which is the fourth-highest rate in the NFL.
It’s not just the rate of drops that’s hurting the Patriots, but the situations as well. Many of the drops in recent weeks have come on third downs and/or when receivers are beyond the first down marker. It’s not just individual plays being killed by the drops, but entire drives at times.
“They’re disappointed. There’s no question,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said on Thursday when asked about the team’s recent drop problems. “That’s a group that we expect more out of. Just handling the football I think is the biggest thing. Drops come in bunches, catches come in bunches. My message to them was to keep working. ‘You’re life-long receivers you catch the ball for a living so it’s nothing new to you guys. So just focus on the next rep, focus on how to get better during the week of practice.’ Ultimately, we’re going to throw the ball to those guys. They’re going to make plays for us moving forward.”
There’s not much a team can do scheme-wise to limit drops. Catching the football is as much of a mental skill as it is physical. Can the Patriots’ wide receivers get their focus back this week and clean things up?
Based on the drop issues in recent weeks, there should be snaps to be won in the Patriots’ receiver rotation this week. DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, and Kendrick Bourne sit at the top of the depth chart, but will anybody make plays in that fourth spot?
Rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker are two players to watch here. Polk has had trouble with drops himself and missed last week with a concussion, while Baker returned to play last week after multiple games as a healthy scratch, but only played on special teams.
The Titans’ disruptor(s) on defense
Sep 22, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat (93), defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (98), linebacker Jaylen Harrell (92) waits for the offense to come to the line against the Green Bay Packers during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
When breaking down the Titans to begin his Wednesday morning, the first player Jerod Mayo mentioned was defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. “He’s one of those guys that’s a huge disruptor,” Mayo said.
Simmons, 27, was a back-to-back All-Pro before a knee injury limited him to just 12 games last year. He had a slow start to this year and missed a few games with an elbow injury but has made a big impact since returning with nine total pressures and eight total run stuffs over the past three games per PFF.
Along with Simmons the Titans have another excellent tackle in rookie T’Vondre Sweat. The second-round pick out of Texas is a rare athlete at 6-foot-4, 362 pounds which allows him to – like Simmons – factor in as a pass rusher as well as a run stopper.
For most of this season, it’s been the Patriots’ tackles in the spotlight when talking about the offensive line. With the Titans’ duo though, it’ll be the interior that really gets put to the test this week.
That includes center Ben Brown, who is finally getting settled in just about a month after he signed with the Patriots off the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad – and started his first game just three days later.
“It’s been great. I love it here,” Brown told 98.5 this week. “I finally got an apartment set up and got my truck up here. So, a little more normalcy now for sure. But, it’s great. It’s been awesome being here.”
Brown added having those things taken care of has translated to his performance on the field. “I think it definitely helps being able to just worry about football,” he said. “So I’m glad everything’s kind of sorted out now, and can kind of settle down.”
Now that he’s settled down, the Patriots will be counting on Brown big this week, along with Michael Jordan, and Mike Owenu. Alex Van Pelt can help them out in the ground game by running more to the outside than up the middle, but they’ll have their hands’ full keeping interior pressure off of whoever is at quarterback for the Patriots.
Who starts at QB for the Titans?
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) and Mason Rudolph (11) hit the field for warmups before the Chicago Bears game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean / USA Today Network)
As mentioned above, there’s uncertainty at the Titans’ quarterback position as well. Will Levis returned to practice this week after missing two games with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.
Patriots’ fans may hear ‘sprained AC joint’ and instantly think of Jimmy Garoppolo, who missed multiple games with the injury in 2016. Levis’ situation is a little more complicated though. He initially suffered the injury in late September, tried playing through it and re-aggravated it.
Levis and head coach Brian Callahan have discussed the 2023 second-round pick as a game-time decision all week. If he can’t go, backup Mason Rudolph would get his third consecutive start.
The reality is though, neither quarterback has been great this year. Levis threw just five touchdowns with seven interceptions in five games before getting hurt. Rudolph has two touchdowns and three picks over the last two weeks, and also fumbled three times against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago.
Whoever is at quarterback, the biggest thing for the Patriots is to not allow them any gimmies in the passing game. Christian Gonzalez will be in the spotlight again – he should be on leading receiver Calvin Ridley.
Assuming Gonzalez has a similar performance against Ridley to the ones he’s had in recent weeks, the Titans don’t have many other big-play threats. Their second-leading wide receiver, Tyler Boyd, hasn’t practiced all week due to a shoulder injury. No other receiver currently on the roster has more than five catches this year (DeAndre Hopkins had 15 before getting traded).
Turnover battle
Oct 27, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo calls a play against the New York Jets during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Simply put, the Titans have had a brutal go of it in the turnover battle this year. They rank last in the NFL with 16 giveaways on offense, while also ranking last in the NFL with just three takeaways on defense.
The Patriots have a chance to capitalize in both of those regards – but especially on defense. Maybe the biggest production change from the Bill Belichick era has been the lack of turnovers forced on that side of the ball. The Patriots have only forced turnovers in four of their eight games, and don’t have one in either of the last two games. Getting one or two against the Titans could provide some momentum and jump-start the unit.
On the other side of the ball this is more of a focus if Drake Maye starts. While Maye hasn’t turned the ball over since his first start, he did have three turnover-worthy plays against the Jaguars in his last full game. In a matchup like this, if he doesn’t create turnovers for the Titans, they likely won’t come up with the plays to create their own, either.
