LONDON — In 2009, the Patriots kicked off the third NFL game ever played in London.
Just three seasons later, Roger Goodell and the league office sent them back.
Because, why wouldn’t they?
The Bill Belichick-Tom Brady Pats were an easy sell to a new audience.
They were dominant. They had a world famous quarterback, a future Hall of Fame head coach, and a bevy of locker-room characters from Rob Gronkowski to Vince Wilfork and others.
To know the NFL in those days was to know the Patriots. Their biggest moments were football’s biggest moments. Every story started with them.
Nowadays, the Pats are a footnote; a footnote eager to climb back into the heart of the league’s story, again on an international stage.
“We’re hitting the reset button and looking forward to building something special. Building the next dynasty,” Pats coach Jerod Mayo said from The Harrow School, an all-boys boarding school where the team practiced Friday. “And it starts with, obviously, (building) through the draft and developing, but also through free agency. We look to get back on top here pretty soon.”
After re-signing this spring
on a rich three-year contract, Patriots tight end Hunter Henry said he’d come back to aid that rebuild. To lend his leadership and help revive the tradition that had come before him, and hopefully would continue afterward.
On Friday, Henry said that goal remains top of mind, even in the heat of the season and a trip overseas.
“Yeah, of course, obviously, there was winning culture here. We need to get back to that,” Henry said. “We need to find ways to get wins, however that comes to be, I feel like we have the guys to do that. We’ve just got to come together. We’ve got to play some big games. We’ve got to play to play together. We’ve got to play complementary (football), can’t beat ourselves.”
At 1-5, the Patriots have beaten themselves quite often at the start of Mayo’s tenure. Their last two weeks included a Henry catch versus Miami that killed the clock with no timeouts and resulted in a loss. In that same game, the Pats took more penalties than they did in several previous games combined.
The following week, the Texans jumped them for a two-touchdown lead. The Patriots are among the NFL’s slowest starters, allowing almost as many points in the first quarter as they’re scoring in the first half; a sign of poor coaching. That loss to Houston prompted Mayo to make two changes this week: starting practice with a rare red-zone period between the top offense and top defense, and benching certain starters.
Whether the Patriots make wholesale lineup changes beginning Sunday or later, the long-term goal is to play more rookies as the season progresses; something vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf told the Herald back in September.
“I would expect this year, we will be getting younger as the year goes along, as opposed to the other direction; whether that means through attrition or injury or whatever,” Wolf said. “I think everyone (knows) we’re trying to win now, obviously. But there is an eye for the future, and developing this core of players that we maybe haven’t had the last couple years.”
That core of young players, from quarterback Drake Maye to wideout Ja’Lynn Polk and cornerback Christian Gonzalez, has Henry excited, even as the losses pile up. Should Maye and Polk connect for a touchdown in London, or Gonzalez snatch an interception, that excitement might spread.
“Obviously we haven’t started this season the way that we would want, but we have a lot of great young players, and a lot of young players that are (coming up) that I think people can gravitate towards at the start of their careers, and as some have gotten things going,” Henry said. “So you might as well jump on (the rebuild) now, because there’s a lot of really, really great players that you can follow their careers.”
A year ago, owner Robert Kraft addressed the team before they kicked off in Germany. He hoped that game, an eventual 10-6 loss to the Colts, would spark a turnaround within a trying season. Instead, it became the Patriots’ first loss overseas and an international embarrassment, after which ownership reportedly decided to move on from Belichick.
This time around, players have again been reminded about the PR stakes of playing in Europe.
“Yeah, coach Mayo had mentioned that back at the hotel this morning in the team meeting,” Maye said Friday. “If I stand corrected, I don’t think we’ve lost over here in (London) yet. So, we’re trying to keep that same motto, and hopefully come out here with a win on Sunday.”
Maye represents the greatest hopes for the Patriots. To rebuild, to return to relevance, to raise the Lombardi trophy again. Doing so will require more performances like his starting debut, when he exceeded expectations with three touchdown passes, but also more backup.
Good news: running back Rhamondre Stevenson declared himself ready to play Sunday, after he missed Maye’s first start with a foot injury. Like Henry, Stevenson said he’s mindful of trying to return the Patriots, the only team he’s ever known, back to former glory.
But until then, well done is better than well said, and well won tops them both.
“In the season, it’s kind of — we’re working on the right now and things like that,” Stevenson said. “But without giving you too much, I’ll say it’s on my mind.”
As for Sunday: “(We’re) very anxious to get a W under our belt.”
More Maye comfort
Drake Maye experienced some predictable jitters during his first career NFL start. Ahead of his second start, he’s already noticing a difference.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just being around the huddle. Being around the huddle, getting confidence making play calls, having answers for different stuff and having answers for what the defense is doing against us. I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said Friday. “Other than that, just trying to get used to preparing. It’s a little different preparing.
“That’s the biggest thing: ask questions for AVP [Alex Van Pelt], T.C. [McCartney] or even the receivers: ‘Hey, what do you think on this look?’ and stuff like that. Try to hammer home every little thing and just in case it comes up in the game.”
Mayo said he’s seen more confidence from Maye, as the rookie becomes more familiar with his routine as a starter.
“Yeah, he’s definitely confident,” Mayo said. “He’s confident in the way he’s running the huddle, confident going out there, making plays and still continuing to build that chemistry with the receivers, the tight ends and the backs. So he’s been good, and he understands that every week, he has to do better.”
The mental side
Christian Gonzalez is increasingly viewed as a true No. 1 cornerback across the league. He’s shadowed several top wideouts and competed well.
While physically gifted, as a 6-foot-2 player with 4.3 speed, Gonzalez emphasized it’s the mental side of his position that fans most often underrate.
Here’s a peek he gave inside the position on Friday, saying resilience is a must: “It’s very mental. Corner is very, obviously it’s physical, you’ve gotta be able to run to the ball and all that, but it’s very mental,” he said. “Just because (the receiver’s) going to catch the ball. Nobody’s ever not going to give up a catch, you know? So catches are going to happen. Plays are going to happen, but it’s all about you. Make a good play, move on. Give up a play, move on.”
Quote of the Week
“Yeah, I’m definitely a big history guy. I would also say I just learned that there was a Harry Potter scene shot here as well, which I thought was pretty interesting.” — Jerod Mayo on practicing at The Harrow School, an alma mater of Winston Churchill
