3 standout stars from Patriots Week 7 loss to the Bears

Even after an ugly performance, three standout stars offer a glimmer of hope for the Patriots moving forward.

The New England Patriots were outwitted in all three facets of the game on Monday, as the Bears demolished them at Gillette Stadium. It was an embarrassing game across the board filled with distractions as quarterback Mac Jones returned to the starting lineup, only to be replaced by rookie QB Bailey Zappe.

The Patriots’ have very little to be proud about in what was a disastrous performance on the primetime stage of Monday Night Football.

Let’s get into the stars of the game for the Patriots in the blowout loss.

3 key matchups could decide Patriots’ Week 5 game vs. Lions

These three positional matchups could decide Sunday’s game between the Patriots and Lions.

The Patriots host the Detroit Lions in a week 5 matchup that features the red throwback jerseys for the first time in 10 years. The Lions (1-3) are looking to prove skeptics wrong that their high-powered offense can carry their struggling defense.

Meanwhile, the Patriots are hoping to avoid a third straight loss with rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe making his first NFL start.

Without further ado, let’s get into the key matchups that could decide the fate of this week’s game for the Patriots.

Patriots officially announce team captains for 2022 season

The 2022 team captains are set for the Patriots.

The team captains for the New England Patriots’ 2022 season are finally set. When arriving in Florida on Wednesday, five days out from their Week 1 opener against the Miami Dolphins, the team revealed the names of the players that would be leading by example.

The rule states that NFL teams should have six captains, but many teams in the past have carried more than six, including the Patriots, as the rule isn’t strictly enforced.

That wasn’t the case this season with the Patriots sticking with six players as their official team captains. In reality, however, there are a few names not on this list capable of leading by example as well, even if they don’t have the “C” on their jersey.

Here are the Patriots’ 2022 team captains.

Fists fly in another massive brawl at Patriots-Panthers joint practice

Things got even uglier on Day 2 of joint practices.

Things are starting to get downright ugly on the practice field in the joint sessions between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers. Elevated tensions from multiple fights on day one led to more punches being thrown on day two on Wednesday.

An incident involving Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson and Panthers cornerback Kenny Robinson was once again at the center of it all. Wilkerson reportedly got knocked out by Robinson during a kickoff and had to be carted off the field.

Multiple Patriot players were upset after the play. So several back-and-forths on the field continued between the two teams and ultimately boiled over after Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey was knocked out of bounds.

Per NBC Sports’ Tom Curran, McCaffrey spiked the ball at Wise before another Panthers player “drove” the Patriots defender into the stands, where he landed on a woman watching the practice.

The joint practices are created for the benefit of both teams in getting a different look and working against an actual opponent.

But these practice sessions have taken a dramatic turn for the worst. It’s a terrible look that dampens the hope of future arrangements.

Once again, multiple players were ejected from practice, including Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr., Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard and Robinson.

Stay tuned as more information becomes available on this story.

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Deatrich Wise Jr. among Patriots’ training camp practice absences for Thursday

A handful of players were absent from Thursday’s Patriots practice.

The New England Patriots hit the field for the second day of training camp practice on Thursday. Several players were not present, including a notable absence in defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. The reason for his absence is unknown.

The eight players who were not at practice Wednesday were also absent Thursday.  Wise was the only new player added to the list of players who did not participate Thursday. These players are on either the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list.

The full list of players not available for Thursday’s practice is as follows, per Dakota Randall of NESN.com.

DL Deatrich Wise
C David Andrews
S Jabrill Peppers
G Chasen Hines
T Andrew Stuber
P Jake Bailey
CB Jonathan Jones
RB James White
DB Myles Bryant

Hines and Stueber were added to the non-football injury list this month. It will be intriguing to see how these players progress, as injuries take their toll over the course of training camp.

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