New England Patriots
Rhamondre Stevenson looks to avoid having a second straight game with an early fumble.
Welcome to Season 15, Episode 3 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious yet lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup …
Drake Maye is struggling to live up to last season’s excellence and this season’s expectations, Christian Gonzalez is locking down receivers like he wants one of those defensive player of the year awards that recent retiree Stephon Gilmore has, and the Patriots, at 1-1, are going to have to survive injury attrition while they conduct their ongoing search for their 2026 identity.
We’ll have a little more clarity about who, exactly, this team intends to be when it travels to Jacksonville to take on quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the 1-1 Jaguars, who are coming of a sloppy 20-13 loss to the Broncos in Denver.
Kick it off, Borregales, and let’s get this one started …
Three players I’ll be watching not named Drake Maye
Gabe Jacas: His physical tools as an edge rusher and general menace are obvious, two games into his professional career. But the rookie second-round pick’s learning curve has been even more impressive than his raw skills.
Because of an injury/contract situation that remains somewhat murky, Jacas was the last player from the Patriots’ 2026 draft class to sign his rookie contract, finally coming to terms in late July. He played just 81 snaps in the preseason and looked lost in the final preseason game, a loss to the Browns in late August in which he got deked into a parallel universe by quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Mike Vrabel and the Patriots’ defensive coaches have had Jacas in their accelerated learning program out of necessity — the Patriots are desperate for young players to emerge on the edge — and two games into the regular season he looks like a different player than he did just a few weeks ago.
Jacas made an impact in just 19 snaps in the opener against the Seahawks, sacking quarterback Drew Lock and making three tackles. His playing time ramped up to 49 snaps last Sunday against the Steelers. Jacas had three more tackles, was in quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s airspace frequently, earning some colorful postgame praise, and hauled in an interception after it ricocheted off a Steelers receiver Germie Bernard.
One of the Jaguars’ main laments after their loss to the Broncos was their offensive line’s recurring failure to buy Lawrence enough time to make a play. The Broncos, who feature All-Pros Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen, hit Lawrence seven times and sacked him twice. The Patriots do not have a pass rush of that magnitude. But if Jacas, as well as second-year edge Elijah Ponder, can play as well against the Jaguars as they did against the Steelers, there’s a decent chance Lawrence will be praising them postgame just as Rodgers did.
Travis Hunter: Research this week confirms that Jaguars fans have already grown impatient with Hunter, the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after a spectacular, Heisman Trophy-winning season at the University of Colorado. The Jaguars drafted him anticipating he’d be a dynamic two-way player as a receiver and cornerback, but he hasn’t established himself as a reliable one-way player yet — he’s played 58 percent of the defensive snaps through two games and just 10 percent of the offensive snaps, with one catch for 8 yards this season. He will be playing just the 10th game of his career Sunday after a knee injury abbreviated his rookie season.
Even though he’s responsible for briefly making Deion Sanders look like a competent coach, as a football fan it’s easy to root for Hunter’s immense talent to be fulfilled, and it is far too soon to give up on him. Jaguars coach Liam Coen has said he intends to use Hunter more on offense this week. Chances are the underrated Parker Washington remains Lawrence’s preferred target on Sunday. But Hunter’s status is more compelling, and overlooking him, even as he’s still finding his way, is risky.
Rhamondre Stevenson: He briefly returned to the Stevan Ridley Habitual Fumbler’s Doghouse after coughing up the football on the Patriots’ first possession against the Steelers. He did return later, and delivered back-to-back runs of 24 and 9 yards in the second half. Stevenson needs 37 yards Sunday to move past Curtis Martin (3,799 yards in three seasons before dastardly-at-the-time Bill Parcells stole him away for the Jets) on the Patriots’ all-time rushing list. He’ll get there if he can avoid having a second straight game with an early fumble.
Grievance of the week
Does it annoy anyone else that the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s decision to reduce its selection committee from 50 voters to 28 — an obvious reaction to the failure last year to induct Bill Belichick on the first ballot — may well end up hurting the chances of some of Belichick’s former Patriots players down the road? Each team market previously had a representative, but that’s no longer the case with the restructuring. Longtime voter Ron Borges was among those pared from the process, which leaves New England without a rep, and someone to make the case for former Patriots that they covered, as Borges did for the likes of Andre Tippett. I suspect this will make it harder for Rodney Harrison, Vince Wilfork, Matthew Slater, and various other dynasty-era Patriots to get the thorough consideration they deserve. On the plus side, I suppose, at least they took away Tony Dungy and Bill Polian’s votes.
Flashback!
Speaking of dynasty-era Patriots who at the very least warrant a Hall of Fame conversation, did you know that Willie McGinest remains the all-time leader in postseason sacks with 16? A playoff-record 4.5 of those sacks came in the Patriots’ 28-3 victory over the Jaguars in the 2005 wild-card round. That ended up being his second-to-last game as a Patriot.
Maye ends his streak of games with an inexplicable interception and hands Jacksonville its first regular-season home loss since a Week 7 defeat to the Rams last October. Patriots 24, Jaguars 20.
Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.