FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Maye's fandom: When the Patriots hosted the Carolina Panthers in a 2024 preseason game, quarterback Drake Maye made it a point to find long-snapper JJ Jansen to say hello and thank him for the memories.
As a youngster growing up in North Carolina, Maye rooted for the Panthers and recalls being in the stands when the team clinched the NFC championship on Jan. 24, 2016, with a blowout win over the Cardinals. Jansen is the only Panther still on the roster from that season. The two will renew acquaintances Sunday when the Panthers visit the Patriots at Gillette Stadium (1 p.m. ET, Fox) in a matchup of 1-2 teams.
Jansen, 39, is in his 17th NFL season. That means Maye was 6 years old when Jansen broke into the NFL.
"He came up and introduced himself," Jansen told ESPN of their meeting last year. "It was nice just to get to know him. It's one of the cool parts of when you come into the league, you're playing against guys you knew as a kid. And it's cool to be on the other side, to know you've played long enough that you might be one of those guys for a few players."
Maye referenced Jansen this week in preparation for Sunday, and said a road game against the Panthers might feel different for him because of how much time he spent in Bank of America Stadium growing up. The Panthers entered the NFL as a franchise in the mid-1990s, and Maye relayed this week in the locker room that many North Carolina kids from prior generations, such as his dad Mark, were fans of Washington before Carolina was awarded a team.
Unlike his dad, Drake Maye was a lifelong die-hard Panthers booster, attending Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos recorded a 24-10 win over quarterback Cam Newton and the Panthers.
"Just being a fan of Cam was probably [my] biggest memory, him coming out here, doing the airplane and hitting 'The Cam,'" Maye said. "[Then] getting to know him later on; he coached the 7-on-7 team and playing against him. So just getting to know some of the players [was] pretty cool."
Maye added that the team's NFC championship in the 2003 season, when the Panthers went on to lose to the Patriots 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII, was when fandom among many kids for the Panthers reached new levels in the region.
Maye was born in Huntersville, North Carolina, located just north of Charlotte. He attended Myers Park High School in Charlotte, leading the football team to a 12-1 record, a league title and a berth in the third round of the state playoffs in his final season before enrolling at the University of North Carolina.
Jansen recalled watching Maye play in high school. As for their NFL meeting last preseason, Jansen said he had a similar experience with current Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, who also grew up in North Carolina as a Panthers fan and attended the same high school as Jansen's kids.
"Very similar trajectories -- first-round draft choices, Charlotte high school phenoms," Jansen said. "It's been fun watching their careers."
2. Rhamondre revival? Coach Mike Vrabel said starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who lost two fumbles last week, will be active for Sunday's game and that there is no "discipline" coming for his miscues. Stevenson could potentially still see a reduction in his snaps, but he was upbeat by the end of the week.
"I felt great and it was probably one of my better weeks of practice this year," he said. "I'm feeling confident and ready to go put it out on the field."
Of Vrabel's decision to stand by him, Stevenson said: "It feels good that my coach has my back ultimately. I know I made a mistake and I think they know I'm harder on myself than anybody else could be on me. Just putting that trust in me again, so I need to gain that trust all the way and keep the ball in my hands 100% of the time."
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3. Blaster arrives: One week after the Patriots turned the ball over five times, Stevenson was asked if there was anything he changed this week, and he mentioned the team had a new blaster for every player to run through at practice. A blaster is a piece of equipment that essentially serves as a gauntlet for players to run through with a football as they experience high-intensity contact from a series of blocking pads.
Anything to help the cause. Their six total turnovers are tied for the second most in the NFL, behind only the Bengals (eight).
4. Milton's choice: It is timely to revisit defensive tackle Milton Williams' free agent experience this week, as it ultimately came down to the Patriots and Panthers (with the Arizona Cardinals having also made a push). While money is naturally a big part of the decision-making process (four years, $104 million), Williams said Vrabel was a deciding factor for him in choosing New England.
"I wanted to be under Vrabel. He played in this league. He knows what D-line looks like. I could pick his brain for anything I could add to my game to make me a better player," he said. "This scheme fits exactly my play style, being aggressive up front."
Williams (eight tackles, two sacks) said getting better with his hands and making first contact, along with playing with lower pad level, are areas in which he is working to improve.
5. Tavai time: Veteran linebacker Jahlani Tavai is eligible to begin practicing this week after opening the year on the injured reserve list, and a source with direct knowledge of his recovery said that has been his target after injuring his calf in the spring and then sustaining a similar injury at the start of training camp.
The Patriots have kept an open spot on the 53-man roster each of the past three weeks, and it seems as if they're waiting for Tavai to fill it (assuming no unexpected setbacks).
Tavai would be a candidate to start next to Robert Spillane -- the spot where Christian Elliss opened the season and Jack Gibbens has recently taken over -- and also projects to contribute on special teams.
6. DePalma with ILBs: With Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams being diagnosed with prostate cancer, and inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr stepping in as playcaller, second-year defensive assistant Vinny DePalma has been thrust into an elevated role working with inside linebackers.
DePalma, a holdover from Jerod Mayo's staff in 2024, knows the position well from his six-year college career at Boston College (2018-2023), where he was a two-time captain.
"He's one of us. He does a lot, and he's a really good ball coach, being that young," outside linebackers coach Mike Smith said.
7. Wakefield's knuckleball: As the Patriots prepared for the Panthers and their challenging kickoffs from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald last week, special teams captain Brenden Schooler approached this reporter in the locker room and made a baseball analogy by mentioning late Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, whose career was defined by his effective knuckleball.
Fitzgerald's kickoffs are similar to a knuckleball as they flutter through the air at different trajectories and angles, with the ball often bouncing into the landing zone, making it harder for returners to track than a traditional kickoff.
It was a meaningful cross-sport reference given Wakefield's long-term on-and-off-field impact in the region. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said the key for returners TreVeyon Henderson and Antonio Gibson is seeing the kickoff off the foot and attacking the ball instead of waiting for it to arrive.
8. Ryder Cup: When reporters entered the locker room after practice Friday, as things were winding down for the week, Maye and teammates were gathered around a television watching the Ryder Cup.
"We've all been locked in. We got a couple golfers in here," Stevenson said.
There was friendly banter on who might be the best golfer on the team, with punter Bryce Baringer receiving multiple votes.
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9. Shirley Temples: Patriots offensive linemen have a weekly dinner on Thursdays, and center Garrett Bradbury shared a light moment with WBZ-TV when he said the group orders a round of Shirley Temples.
Bradbury laughed because he had never seen a tray of 12 Shirley Temples delivered to a table, with rookie Marcus Bryant joking he started the trend that was born when he was in the eighth grade eating at a Chili's and has now become a regular occurrence.
Last Thursday's O-line dinner was at Capital Grille, and Bryant, the seventh-round pick from Missouri, picked up the tab alongside fourth-year veteran Vederian Lowe.
10. Did you know? If the Patriots hold the Panthers to less than 100 yards rushing, it will mark just the second time in franchise history they have opened the season by limiting opponents to less than 100 yards rushing in each of the first four games.
The only other time it happened was in 1964. The Browns, Packers and Buccaneers are the other teams to limit their opponents to less than 100 yards rushing in each of the first three games this season.