Two Patriots starters missing at lone bye week practice

LB Jahlani Tavai and T Vederian Lowe were both missing from the Patriots’ lone bye week practice

The New England Patriots were missing two starters on both sides of the ball at Tuesday’s practice.

Per Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan, linebacker Jahlani Tavai and offensive tackle Vederian Lowe were not present at the team’s lone practice session of the bye week.

Tight end Hunter Henry practiced, but he was limited on the field.

The Patriots are still licking their wounds from Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts. They blew a lead late in the fourth quarter on a 19-play, 80-yard game-winning drive by the visiting Colts.

Lowe has been banged up all season with multiple injuries. There’s hope that a week of rest will get the entire team as close to 100 percent as possible. They have gone 13 weeks straight of NFL games, and this should give them time to take a step back, breathe and hit the reset button.

There are only four games left on the regular season schedule for the Patriots. They’ll face the Arizona Cardinals on the road when they return, and then they have a matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers sandwiched in between two AFC clashes with the Buffalo Bills.

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Sights and sounds of Patriots OL Vederian Lowe’s surprising touchdown catch

Patriots fans went absolutely bananas for this play

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye threw his second touchdown pass of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams to the unlikeliest of receiving targets, left tackle Vederian Lowe.

It was a unique play call by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, which led to Lowe catching the first touchdown of his NFL career.

The Patriots posted a new “Sights & Sounds” video of the play live on the field and the reaction from fans at Gillette Stadium. It was an incredible moment with the live crowd as Lowe got freed up and caught the wide-open pass from Maye to hang six points on the board.

The Patriots ended up losing the game to the Rams. Nevertheless, the offense showed progress in some fairly unique and unorthodox ways. This play in particular was unique on a day when the Patriots needed to pull out all of their tricks.

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Patriots get thicc-six from 6-foot-5, 315-pound Vederian Lowe

It was a big-man TD reception for the Patriots

The New England Patriots got tricky and got back in the game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Drake Maye was looking for a receiver in the end zone and it wasn’t hard to find Vederian Lowe. That’s because the tackle is 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds.

Lowe caught the four-yard pass and The Patriots were within 28-19 of the Rams in the fourth quarter.

Patriots veteran’s Drake Maye comments serve as warning to future NFL

Vederian Lowe believes Drake Maye will be a “dangerous man” in the NFL

New England Patriots offensive tackle Vederian Lowe had high praise for Drake Maye on Thursday.

Lowe is impressed with the rookie quarterback after his first three starts in the NFL. All told, Maye has recorded 564 passing yards, six passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He also recorded the first rushing touchdown of his career in Sunday’s victory over the New York Jets.

He currently ranks fifth amongst all rookies in passing yards and fourth in passing touchdowns, despite only playing in two-and-a-half games.

“He’s gonna be a dangerous man,” said Lowe.

Maye’s progression through the rest of the season will be important with the Patriots coming into the year looking for long-term stability at the quarterback position.

He has shown promising signs as a rookie in a rebuilding offense, and it sounds like his teammates are taking notice of his promising trajectory as well.

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Patriots OT Vederian Lowe (ankle) questionable to return vs. Texans

Patriots offensive tackle Vederian Lowe left Sunday’s game with an injury

New England Patriots starting left tackle Vederian Lowe went down with an ankle injury in Sunday’s Week 6 matchup against the Houston Texans.

The team provided an update that the veteran offensive lineman is questionable to return to the game.

Injuries have decimated the Patriots’ offensive line to the point where they’ve been a revolving door of backups and rookies playing in prominent roles. Not having consistency along the front has made it difficult for the team to get into any form of a rhythm.

They have been abysmal in pass protection, but they’ve also struggled in run-blocking as well. Both of those issues have made it increasingly difficult for the offense to move the ball.

The Patriots have struggled through the first five games of the season with offensive line issues. Lowe might not be a top option, but he’s their best option currently at left tackle.

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Updated Vikings draft picks after trade deadline

The Vikings are primed to go into the offseason with 9 2024 NFL draft picks

The Minnesota Vikings made some noise at the trade deadline on Tuesday.

They acquired quarterback Josh Dobbs and a conditional seventh-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth-round pick.

The Vikings weren’t done either as they sent left guard Ezra Cleveland to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a sixth-round pick.

What they chose not to do was make a big splash. They ended up keeping Danielle Hunter and not trading for a big name player like Chase Young, Montez Sweat or Jaylon Johnson.

The Vikings are in a weird position where they want to both try to win now but are staying realistic and gathering capital for next season.

With the draft pick movement, the Vikings currently have 10 picks in their possession, but one of them will be sent to the Philadelphia Eagles to complete the Jalen Reagor trade. Here is the up-to-date 2024 draft picks for the Vikings.

Patriots downgrade two players as out for Sunday’s game vs Dolphins

The Patriots officially ruled out two players on Saturday.

A day after revealing linebacker Josh Uche and offensive lineman Vederian Lowe as questionable on the injury report, the New England Patriots are officially ruling them out for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

Uche has been limited throughout the week with an ankle/toe injury, but his absence from this game is especially eye-raising considering all of the trade buzz surrounding his name.

There’s a chance we might have seen the veteran pass-rusher play his final snap of football in New England. Of course, the Patriots could decide to keep him on the roster and deal with his contract after the season. But if they could move him for a draft pick, particularly a third or fourth-rounder, they might consider making a deal by the October 31 deadline.

Meanwhile, Lowe isn’t dealing with trade buzz as much as he’s dealing with the pressure of trying to prove himself on the football field. Being sidelined with an ankle injury certainly won’t help his case.

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Stock up, stock down for 12 Patriots players heading into Week 8

Who’s stock is up, and who’s stock is down in New England?

The 2023 season hasn’t gone as expected for the New England Patriots.

Those that expected the team to be competitive in the AFC East are likely surprised to see them sitting at 2-5 with little hope of competing for a playoff spot.

But even the team’s biggest skeptics didn’t expect to see them sink to the bottom of the division with talks of them being in line for a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL draft. There’s obviously the possibility of things changing with the Patriots coming off a huge upset win over the Buffalo Bills.

If they can somehow beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the schedule will lighten significantly, and they’ll have a real chance to start racking up wins. It’s a long-shot chance that’s heavily dependent on the players’ ability to elevate their game down the stretch.

Let’s take a look at the stock report for 12 Patriots players ahead of their Week 8 clash with the Dolphins. Who’s up and who’s down in New England?

Studs and duds from Patriots’ crushing 21-17 loss to Raiders

Who were the studs and duds from the Patriots’ Week 6 loss to the Raiders?

An easier opponent didn’t make much of a difference for the New England Patriots, who fell in defeat for a third straight time on Sunday afternoon.

After suffering back-to-back blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, the Patriots fell victim to a heartbreaking 21-17 road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6.

The offense was clearly still sluggish, but they did manage to move the ball better than they have in previous weeks. They even scored two touchdowns after failing to score one in their last two games.

But overall, it was still a disappointing showing from a team that looks like one of the worst in the league. The Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and even New York Jets look like far superior teams than the Patriots right now.

With a 1-5 record and a schedule loaded with a murderer’s row slate of opponents, there may be no changing that narrative for the Patriots this season.

Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game:

Do Your Job: Who is x-factor Raiders player Patriots must stop?

Who is the one player on the Raiders the Patriots must stop to get a win on Sunday?

The Patriots offensive line has struggled mightily, and they will have their hands full this week against one of the best defensive lineman in the entire NFL.

This week’s x-factor is none other than star defensive end, Maxx Crosby.

Since entering the NFL in 2019, Crosby has amassed 259 tackles, 73 tackles for loss and 42.5 sacks.

Crosby is more than a pin-the-ears back pass-rusher as he possesses a deep bag of tricks to live in the opponent’s backfield all game. If Crosby isn’t in the backfield, he’s clogging up lanes and setting a hard edge in the run game, opening up opportunities for his fellow defensive lineman to clean up the easy tackles.

Crosby is ranked as the eighth best pass-rusher by Pro Football Focus, and he has a 20 percent pass rush win rate against his offensive line counterparts this year, which is a scary thought considering the Patriots have one of the worst offensive lines in the entire NFL.

If the Patriots wish to get anything going offensively, it all starts with finding where Crosby is and running the opposite direction as fast as they can. Crosby is a modern day Boogeyman, and he should create nightmares for Mac Jones, much like Micah Parsons and Cam Jordan did in previous weeks.

Whoever lines up at right tackle for the Patriots will need to have a career game just to not be embarrassed by one of the more dominant defensive ends in all of football. The Patriots will likely need to utilize tight ends and running backs to assist Vederian Lowe (likely starter) by chipping or even flat out double-teaming Crosby on passing downs.

If they fail to take care of business up front, it’s going to be another painfully frustrating day for Jones and the Patriots offense.

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