3 HRS AGO - Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images The NFL announced nominees from all 32 teams on Thursday. The nominees for the 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award have been unveiled. New England Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. stands among the 32, the league announced Thursday. We are proud to name Deatrich Wise Jr. our 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee!Congratulations @wisehog94, #WPMOYChallenge pic.twitter.com/7P6tnho7Hy— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 5, 2024 Named after the late Chicago Bears running back and 1993 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award stands as the NFL’s highest honor, recognizing those who excel on the field and demonstrate a commitment to creating a positive impact beyond football. “I am honored to be nominated for such a prestigious award,” Wise said in a statement released by the Patriots. “My father played at Jackson State, where Walter Payton’s legendary career began, so I have Collapse

6 HRS AGO - Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images The Patriots’ first-round rookie has been excellent at creating plays out of structure. You know the saying — the one one about either being able or unable to make chicken salad out of chicken excrement, depending on the circumstances described. Well, for the New England Patriots, chicken salad has been on the menu extensively the last few weeks. Drake Maye, the team’s first-round draft pick and franchise quarterback hopeful, has shown quite the culinary skillset since taking over as the Patriots’ starter in Week 6. While his performance within the Alex Van Pelt-coordinated offense as a whole has been impressive, and quite promising, one certain aspect of his game stands out even compared to his peers. No. 10 has had to turn No. 2 into something all by himself on multiple occasions. The results may not have always been perfect — an overeager approach has cost him at times — but they allowed the Patriots’ offense Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images New England’s working conditions received poor grades in the NFLPA survey. With ongoing construction at Gillette Stadium in recent weeks, the New England Patriots officially announced their plans for a new football training facility. The three story facility located near the practice fields towards the south end of the stadium will be home to the entire Patriots’ football operations department. That includes coaches, players, training staff, and other internal personnel. The team is currently targeting a Spring 2026 completion date. Patriots to begin construction on a new football training facility: https://t.co/mSSJw5GcPW pic.twitter.com/djixWQoRv0— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 4, 2024 “The whole project is designed around the players and the player experience,” Kraft Sports and Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Jim Nolan said in a statement. “As teams and team operations have grown, it was time for us to design a Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images Drake Maye has played some promising football since taking over as Patriots starting quarterback. New England Patriots first-round draft pick Drake Maye has been the most impressive rookie quarterback in the league so far this season, at least according to NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Appearing on the What the Football podcast featuring Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask, Jeremiah gave insight into why he thinks Maye has looked better than the other QBs selected earlier this year. “If you’re going to ask me about all these rookie quarterback what I’ve been most impressed by, I would say Drake Maye,” Jeremiah said. “He’s got nothing to work with. The whole worry was, ‘We’re going to ruin Drake Maye by putting him out there because of what we have around him.’ And the exact opposite’s happened. Drake Maye’s gone in there and made everyone else around him better, which for a rookie quarterback, that’s some rare stuff.” After finishing the Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Kara Durrette/Getty Images The first-time captain shared his thoughts on New England’s mindset at 3-10. The New England Patriots are heading into their bye week as one of the worst teams in the NFL. Having won just three of their first thirteen games this season, they have already been eliminated from playoff contention and will end with a losing record for a third straight year. For veteran long snapper Joe Cardona, that is quite the change since his early years with the team. A 2015 draft pick by the Patriots, Cardona won two Super Bowls with the organization before it entered its recent slump. As a captain and New England’s longest-tenured player, Cardona is mindful of the current state of what is a rebuilding team — and of the fact that a continuation of the recent struggles is, ultimately, not acceptable. In order to change the fortunes of the 3-10 team down the stretch this year and heading into 2025, the 32-year-old is looking at himself and the rest of the Patriots’ Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Plus, should they make a wardrobe change next year? While the New England Patriots lost this Sunday once again, quarterback Drake Maye had perhaps the best game of his rookie year. He completed 80 percent of his passes, throwing for 238 yards and picking up another 59 on the ground. The Patriots started Jacoby Brissett for the first five games of the season, letting Maye develop in practice and on the bench before turning over the keys in mid-October. Maye worked with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, and senior offensive assistant Ben McAdoo behind the scenes getting ready for that first start. In nine appearances and eight starts, Maye has amassed 1,696 passing yards on 256 attempts, passing for 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s also rushed 38 times for 345 yards and a score. Do you think this development approach has been successful so far? Sunday’s loss also marked the team’s second and last scheduled appearance in the 1980s red Collapse

1 DAY AGO - challenge flag | Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Check out what the experts are saying about the Pats heading into Week 14 Two weeks ago in this space, I wrote: “Week 11 brought another winnable yet losing effort when the Rams came to town last Sunday. Overall, Drake Maye looked great with a few hiccups thrown in. The game was close and the Patriots would have had a better chance to win without the sloppiness and penalties that have plagued this team all season long. Growing pains sure can be painful to go through and we’re all stuck right in the middle of it.” Swap in the Colts for the Rams and this feels like a “wash-rinse-repeat” kind of week — or season, really. Drake Maye was again a net positive, while sloppy play and penalties were (yet, again) the negatives. Even if the Patriots had pulled out a win in that last second, the issues would still be there. Heading into Week 14 and the bye week, the Patriots have the 4th pick in the 2025 Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Eric Canha-Imagn Images New England held their lone practice of the bye week on Tuesday. The New England Patriots were back inside a cold Gillette Stadium on Tuesday for the first and only practice of their bye week. The non-padded session saw two starters missing as left tackle Vederian Lowe and linebacker Jahlani Tavai were not present during the media-attended portion of practice. Lowe has been limited in recent weeks due to a shoulder injury. The #Patriots are without Vederian Lowe and Jahlani Tavai for their lone practice of the bye week. pic.twitter.com/pcVHOxigbw— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) December 3, 2024 With the rest of the roster accounted for, tight end Hunter Henry, who took a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Colts before returning, appeared limited. Henry did not appear to take part of positional drills. Safety Kyle Dugger, who has been nursing an ankle injury, appeared to fall in the same category. The Patriots players are scheduled to be off Wednesday Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images New England had arguably its best offensive day of the season in Week 13. In the end, it was more of the same for the New England Patriots on Sunday. Hosting the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium, they were beaten with a final score of 25-24 to fall to 3-10 on the season and officially get eliminated from playoff contention. Despite the nature of this latest defeat — the Colts scored the decisive points on a controversial two-point play with only 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter — it left a less bitter taste in the Patriots’ mouths that others, at least on the offensive side of the ball. The unit, after all, played arguably its best overall game of the year. Gaining 422 total yards, the Patriots advanced into Indianapolis territory on each of their first seven possessions and had to punt just once all day. Sure, finishing drives remained a serious weakness for the team, but the game as a whole was a Collapse