FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Post-Peppers plan: A little more than three weeks ago, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel sent shockwaves throughout the New England region by releasing veteran safety Jabrill Peppers in a move few saw coming -- including some of Peppers' closest teammates.
Now with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1), Peppers visits the Patriots (1-1) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), providing an early checkpoint to examine how New England has moved forward without the hard-hitting nine-year veteran who, at one point early in training camp, felt he and Vrabel were an ideal match.
"It was tough because it happened out of nowhere -- a guy that was close with the room. It was one of those things where we were like, 'Damn, unexpected.' So we have to stick together, come together even more, and build," said Jaylinn Hawkins, who in his sixth NFL season opened the year as a starter for the second time in his career.
"That's one of our guys. It's unfortunate, part of the business, but I'm happy he's still doing his thing and got to a team. He's a dawg. We've got dawgs. It will be a fun matchup competing against him."
Peppers, wearing No. 40, played solely on special teams in his Steelers debut last Sunday -- a 31-17 loss to the Seahawks. Meanwhile, in New England, Hawkins has played 119 of a possible 120 snaps, mostly alongside 2025 fourth-round draft choice Craig Woodson (116 of 120). Six-year veteran Kyle Dugger (21 snaps) and second-year player Dell Pettus (12), the other safeties on the roster, have been in niche roles when the D is looking for more of a linebacker-type role as a third safety.
The 6-foot, 200-pound Woodson leads the team with 14 tackles, while Hawkins is tied for second with 13 -- two University of California alums, where they were teammates in 2019, reunited again.
"It's been a big adjustment, really. It's kind of like you're thrown in the fire early, but I'm trying to learn from my mistakes, eliminate them, and make sure I get everyone on the same page -- communicating," said Woodson, who had earned the nickname "The Eraser" in college because of his coverage ability. "And when it's time to go make plays, go do it; I have rights to the ball when the ball is in the air. I want to continue to keep building confidence and trust myself on the field."
The veteran savvy and cadence of Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who also attended Cal, will challenge the Hawkins-Woodson duo in new ways.
Both point to evolving communication and chemistry among Patriots safeties as a promising early-season development, while acknowledging they must do a better job limiting big plays against them. The Raiders had nine plays of 20 yards or more in Week 1, while the Dolphins had four last week, in addition to three plays of 18 yards.
Dugger noted how Peppers was "a big part of communication" and it's been a "group effort with leadership coming from everywhere" to fill his void. It has also been an adjustment in the locker room, where Dugger relayed Peppers' "nonstop jokes" that kept the atmosphere light as they had lockers immediately next to each other.
Vrabel didn't detail why the Patriots moved on from Peppers, saying the decision was what was best for the team. For the four safeties still on the roster, a group which prides itself on the saying "the standard is the standard," the work continues to come together in Peppers' absence.
"Some things you don't really expect but at the end of the day, us players can't do anything about that," Woodson said. "Whoever is here, it's trying to buy into the team identity and culture and you wish the best for whoever leaves and goes somewhere else."
2. Winning pics: When players arrived at the team facility this week, and walked by the team cafeteria and auditorium, they noticed many new pictures on the walls from their Week 2 win over the Dolphins.
That continued a longstanding tradition in New England of updating the walls with fresh snapshots after each win. In recent seasons, of course, there hasn't been much change on the walls due to back-to-back four-win campaigns. The goal is to change that.
3. Williams the closer: Defensive tackle Milton Williams said he couldn't recall at any point in his football-playing career having a sack to seal a game as he did last week in the Patriots' road win over the Dolphins. When Williams returned to the locker room in the aftermath, Vrabel said to him in excitement, "Game-winning walkoff!" and later awarded him a game ball.
Now Williams, who signed a four-year, $104 million contract in March as the team's highest-paid player ever, sets his sights on Rodgers and the Steelers.
"Those are moments you visualize the night before a game or meditate in the locker room. To actually do it was another thing," he said.
4. Henderson's reprieve: Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson had two holding penalties last week, and another on special teams, which had him going back to the drawing board on refining his fundamentals and technique.
Henderson's blitz pickup was viewed by scouts as one of the strengths of his game coming out of Ohio State, and running backs coach Tony Dews shared his belief the outing was an outlier by saying, "We've seen him execute the blocks over a long period of time, between the spring and padded practices in camp and games."
Meanwhile, Vrabel spared Henderson on the special teams penalty because returner Antonio Gibson bounced the return out when the blocking scheme was designed to kick the coverage player out by the sideline.
5. Home woes: The Patriots are 3-15 (.167) at home since the start of the 2023 season, which is the worst home record in the NFL in that span. So it's no surprise that some players have highlighted the goal of making Gillette Stadium -- once the hardest venue in the NFL to come away with a road win -- less friendly to visitors.
"Super important," Gibson said. "Fans come out and spend their hard-earned money to come to see us play. To get a win and give them something to cheer, we have to do that for them."
6. OL bonding: On Thursday, Patriots offensive linemen gathered at a Top Golf after practice. On Friday morning, 12-year veteran right tackle Morgan Moses met rookie Marcus Bryant for a 6 a.m. yoga class a few miles from Gillette Stadium, which has become a regular part of their weekly routine.
Some of the linemen pointed to those things as examples of how the group has been working to build bonds off the field, which they hope will contribute to better performance on the field.
7. Maye-Campbell combo: Offensive linemen usually don't find themselves on billboards, especially rookies. But for those making their way to Gillette Stadium on Route 1, they'll notice first-round pick Will Campbell, the offensive tackle from LSU, paired with quarterback Drake Maye as part of a "Real Promise" marketing campaign for a New England-based law firm.
Campbell said one of the nice parts for him was doing it with Maye. A member of the law firm explained that Maye and Campbell were picked for their commitment and potential, in addition to the example they set off the field.
8. Vrabel on Parcells: Vrabel told the "Patriots All Access" show that Bill Parcells' advice has stayed with him since he became coach of the Titans in 2018. The two had phone conversations and Vrabel, who relayed that he admired the "great connection" Parcells had with his players, said Parcells shared with him the importance of getting away from the facility to meet players at lunch, or elsewhere, to help build those bonds.
"I'll never forget that," Vrabel said leading into Parcells' induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday. "It was his way of saying that if you need to talk to a guy, sometimes it's best that you don't do it in your office."
9. Did you know? Part I: Vrabel is 0-3 in his head coaching career against the Steelers, his most losses without a win against any opponent. Meanwhile, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is 3-10 in his career against the Patriots (including playoffs), which is his worst record against any opponent in his head coaching career.
10. Did you know? Part II: The Patriots are one of just four teams that Rodgers has started against multiple times on the road and hasn't beaten. The others are the Bills, Colts and Steelers.