![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/patsms14_2a05b3.jpg\")
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez during training camp on July 25 at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)\n@dyhrdpatsfan: Mentioned it yesterday, blessing in disguise not signing Chris Godwin.<\/p>\n
The Patriots got their all-important first win out of the way to start the season 1-1.<\/p>\n
They face their next test Sunday when Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers come to Foxboro in Week 3.<\/p>\n
Patriots fans have questions about DeMario Douglas\u2019 usage, how to fix the defense and much more. Let\u2019s answer them in our weekly mailbag.<\/p>\n
@robby_dudley: Pop Douglas has just 8 targets in the last 2 games \u2014 is he being phased out of the Pats\u2019 offense? If so, who benefits, and is Maye struggling to hit him because of his size?<\/p>\n
Even more telling than the fact that he has just eight targets in two games is that Drake Maye only threw two him once in Week 2, and he saw his snaps drop from 45 against the Raiders to just 15 against the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
It might be too soon to say the Patriots are phasing him out of the offense, but it\u2019s certainly trending that way. Going deeper into the numbers, only 13.3% of his snaps have come on running plays. The Patriots, as a team, are running 33.6% of the time. So, that tells me that the new Patriots regime doesn\u2019t trust Douglas as a run blocker, and his size could be a factor there.<\/p>\n
Last season, 29.2% of Douglas\u2019 snaps came on running plays. As a rookie, 30% of his snaps came on running plays.<\/p>\n
Douglas\u2019 size also could play into some of Maye\u2019s misses.<\/p>\n
As for who benefits, it was Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins in Week 2. They all played more than 50% of snaps in the win over the Dolphins. Rookie Kyle Williams also played 10% of snaps, which was the same amount as Week 1. I think another shoe will have to drop before Efton Chism is active and starts stealing snaps.<\/p>\n
@KleaverSports: Outside of Gonzalez returning, how would you like to see this defense step up? It feels like the linebacker group has been very subpar for what was promised.<\/p>\n
Christian Gonzalez\u2019s eventual return from his hamstring injury will definitely help. He\u2019s the Patriots\u2019 best defender, and there will be a trickle-down effect too. Players being covered by Alex Austin will be covered by Carlton Davis III instead, and the Patriots will have the option of using Austin in the slot against bigger receivers instead of Marcus Jones.<\/p>\n
Outside of that, I could see the Patriots making some changes at linebacker. Robert Spillane isn\u2019t going anywhere, despite his NFL-leading eight missed tackles. But Christian Elliss is also struggling. He\u2019s missed six tackles so far, and he\u2019s allowed nine catches on nine targest for 103 yards.<\/p>\n
The Patriots have two other inside linebackers on their roster in Marte Mapu and Jack Gibbens. I could see Mapu, a converted safety, playing more defensive snaps if he can prove to be better in coverage and a more sure tackler. Jahlani Tavai is also eligible to return off of injured reserve after Week 4. Tavai was always at his best when he was able to play as let\u2019s call it the No. 2 linebacker next to Ja\u2019Whaun Bentley. Perhaps he could have similar success next to Spillane.<\/p>\n
@jazzmankyle: Does Mike Vrabel think Drake Maye is good? Some circumstantial evidence that he\u2019s less than enamored with him.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Vrabel would be the Patriots\u2019 current head coach if he didn\u2019t think Drake Maye is good.<\/p>\n
Vrabel didn\u2019t exactly talk up Maye\u2019s performance after Sunday\u2019s game, but I tend to think that\u2019s more of a motivational tactic.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what Vrabel said after the game: \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of good things and a lot of things we\u2019ll have to fix. The command and the operation, and when he feels that lull, that\u2019s when we\u2019ve got to tighten the screws on these guys and get them set faster and get them out of huddle faster and really push them. He\u2019s a jockey, and he\u2019s got to know what the flow of the team looks like offensively. We had a couple of penalties and false starts. Again, things we really aren\u2019t going to be able to overcome eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think Vrabel is just going to demand more and more out of Maye when he\u2019s playing well. He might be more apt to defend and praise him if Maye struggles.<\/p>\n
@Joeybatz35: Can you see if Kyle Williams will be integrated into the offense more against Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n
I personally would be surprised. The Patriots will keep working him in, but Boutte, Diggs, Hollins and Douglas all were better than Williams this summer.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll get his chance, but it\u2019s still very early in the season.<\/p>\n
@AWDarago: Saw the locker room video post-Dolphins\u2026.is \u201cHow do we feeeeelll?\u201d gone now?<\/p>\n
It appears so, yes. I\u2019m not shocked. It\u2019s a new regime.<\/p>\n
@DuxxyThree: If Gonzalez is gone for longer than expected, should the Patriots make a move for a veteran corner?<\/p>\n
He\u2019s already been gone longer than expected but, no, Gonzalez will be back. It makes sense to weather the storm until then. The Patriots still have a solid cornerback room with Gonzalez, Davis, Jones and Austin.<\/p>\n
Austin struggled against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but that\u2019s a tough matchup for any cornerback.<\/p>\n
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez during training camp on July 25 at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)
\n@dyhrdpatsfan: Mentioned it yesterday, blessing in disguise not signing Chris Godwin.<\/p>\n
Patriots fans definitely would have been disappointed if the team had signed Godwin and if he truly doesn\u2019t return to the field until October.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still curious to see whose numbers look better by the end of the season, Godwin or Diggs.<\/p>\n
Diggs got a head start, but his stats aren\u2019t exactly living up to his contract. Godwin is missing more time to begin the season, but he still might be able to catch up.<\/p>\n
@lowfive_: I\u2019m excited, but it was the dolphins, whose defense seems truly terrible this year. Should I take the Pats\u2019 offensive success with a grain of salt?<\/p>\n
If you want to, but I still think it was an important victory for Maye and the Patriots.<\/p>\n
I would also say, on paper, that a defense featuring Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jordyn Brooks, Zach Sieler, Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson, Matthew Judon, Rasul Douglas, Ashtyn Davis and Jack Jones shouldn\u2019t really be that bad. All of those guys have been starters in the NFL and have played well in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Patriots got their all-important first win out of the way to start the season 1-1. They face…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[80,833,839,7,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,15,835,61050,832,208,836,19972,834,831,61051,61052,724,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-374810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-2025-nfl-draft","9":"tag-drake-maye","10":"tag-eliot-wolf","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-mike-vrabel","13":"tag-new-england","14":"tag-new-england-patriots","15":"tag-newengland","16":"tag-newenglandpatriots","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-nfl-draft","19":"tag-nfl-news","20":"tag-nfl-patriots","21":"tag-nfl-rumors","22":"tag-patriots","23":"tag-patriots-2025","24":"tag-patriots-game","25":"tag-patriots-news","26":"tag-patriots-rumors","27":"tag-patriots-schedule","28":"tag-patriots-stats","29":"tag-pats","30":"tag-robert-kraft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115219185478095336","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}