Patriots Aren’t Getting Ahead Of Themselves

By Steve Atkinson 

The Patriots have won three consecutive games and have the opportunity to secure a fourth straight victory in this week’s matchup against the Tennessee Titans, who have just fired their head coach. The Titans are currently 1-4 on the season and are struggling as a team. Mike Vrabel is likely relieved to have moved on from that situation, especially since he now has a better quarterback in Drake Maye with the Patriots. I believe most of the Patriots’ staff will be eager to prove a point this Sunday.

While the Patriots are in first place, they know they can’t afford to get ahead of themselves. Here is Drake Maye on Wednesday.

I got ahead of myself a little bit there. I think we’re just trying to keep going, one week at a time. That’s been the goal since we got here. What Coach Vrabel has put on the goals of winning the division, making the playoffs and having home playoff games. So, that’s been the goal in mind since we got here. So, it’s not too early for me to get ahead onto it, but it is a little bit early calling it. So, just trying to keep playing, and if it happens to get there, that’ll be some fun.

The motto is “ignore the noise.” While Bill Belichick may take credit for that phrase, this is a different Patriots team. Coach Mike Vrabel encourages his players to ignore distractions, but he brings a more modern approach than Belichick. Vrabel doesn’t have the same ego as Belichick and genuinely wants to develop quarterback Drake Maye in the right way, rather than just relying on a defensive coordinator or offensive coordinator.

Patriots Are In First Place In The AFC East

Currently, the first-place Patriots have the easiest schedule in the league. However, they need to treat every opponent the same and avoid looking ahead, as that’s when losses can occur.

Well, that didn’t take long. Well, they’re not going to cancel the rest of the season, and that’s not really our focus right now. But I would say that we’ve done – we’ve put ourselves in a position to play meaningful games – not that they aren’t all meaningful, but certainly focusing on this one on the road. Our last one of three here. And I appreciate us not looking too far ahead. They just attacked Buffalo, they figured out what we needed to do against the Saints and then we got back, got things cleaned up and tried to get some rest. Now focusing on Tennessee and the challenge that that presents. Seeing if we can’t continue to enhance the things that we do well, improve the things that we’re not doing well and then eliminate the stuff that could or will or has gotten us beat.

Drake Maye started last year when the Patriots played the Titans. However, this year is a much different team with an actual offensive coordinator and coaches that worked with Vrabel. The offense is a collaboration and I don’t expect the Patriots to lose Sunday like they did last year.