Patriots safety Kevin Byard, who joined the team earlier this year, has been reunited with coach Mike Vrabel. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Byard said he sees no differences between the Vrabel who worked with Byard in Tennessee and the Vrabel who is moving forward amid a controversy that continues to generate periodic developments.
“[He’s] the same old guy, honestly,” Byard said, via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com. “He’s the same guy that I recognize from being back in Tennessee, a guy that’s full of energy, coaching the entire team, running back and forth from offense, defense, special teams. I don’t see a difference whatsoever.”
On Tuesday, Byard said Vrabel got involved in punt drills.
“He’s the loudest voice on the field,” Byard said. “Just coaching the guys, making sure guys technique is good, but at the same time, praising them when they do very well. . . . It’s definitely the same guy I recognize from Tennessee.”
Receiver Romeo Doubs, who hasn’t previously played for Vrabel, is equally impressed.
“I love him,” Doubs said. “Very energetic dude. A player’s coach, because I know at some point in his career, he’s played some really solid football here.
“It’s rare when you get a head coach who obviously was a player in this league, and worked his way through the ropes to be a really solid head coach. . . . I’m just very blessed and fortunate to be around him.”
For Vrabel and the Patriots, the best outcome is for everything unrelated to football to calm down. As of three weeks ago, the situation reached a tipping point that impacted the team, given that Vrabel missed the third day of the draft. If the drip-drip of photo and video drops from TMZ and the New York Post slows to a trickle, and if the other party to the situation doesn’t do a sit-down with Oprah (or whoever), there’s a chance this will all be fading away by the time Week 1 rolls around.
Patriots seventh-round linebacker Quintayvious Hutchins was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery after an incident in a Boston College dorm on Tuesday night.
WBZ reports, via a police report, that officers were called to a dorm to intervene in an argument between a man and a woman. The report cites a witness account that Hutchins grabbed the woman’s neck during the argument and that they were also pushing each other.
“We are aware of the report involving Quintayvious Hutchins,” the Patriots said in a statement. “We take these matters very seriously and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will not have further comment at this time.”
The police report also notes that the woman did not want pictures of her neck taken and said she was “OK” in her own statement.
Hutchins, who played at Boston College, was arraigned on Wednesday morning and released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty.
All of the international matchups for the 2026 NFL season were announced on Wednesday morning.
We already knew the first two games on the schedule. The 49ers and Rams will meet in the NFL’s first-ever game in Melbourne, Australia in Week 1 while the Ravens and Cowboys will head to Brazil to play a game in Rio in Week 3.
There will be three straight weeks of games in London kicking off the next week. The Colts will face the Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Week 4 and the Eagles and Jaguars will square off in the same place the next week. The Jaguars will stay in London to take on the Texans at Wembley Stadium in Week 6.
From there, it will be on to Paris for the first time in league history. The Steelers will battle the Saints at Stade de France in Week 7.
The Bengals-Falcons matchup in Madrid in Week 9 was announced earlier this week and it will be followed by a Patriots-Lions clash at Allianz Arena in Munich the next weekend. The NFL’s return to Mexico City will come in Week 11 when the Vikings and the 49ers square off on Sunday Night Football.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has talked about his desire to see the league play international games each week and the NFL is moving closer to that goal in 2026.
When the Seahawks won Super Bowl LX, there were nine potential options for the Week 1 season-opening game in Seattle. The list is now down to four.
All NFC teams have nine home games this year. The Seahawks are due to host the 49ers, Rams, Cardinals, Giants, Cowboys, Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, and Patriots.
With the 49ers and Rams set to play in Australia on Thursday, September 10, with the Cowboys and Giants slated for Sunday night, September 13, and with the Chiefs hosting the Broncos on Monday, September 14, only four options remain to be the road team on Wednesday, September 9: Cardinals, Chargers, Bears, and Patriots.
A Super Bowl rematch wouldn’t be unprecedented. Ten years ago, the Panthers and Broncos crossed paths in the first game of the season, after Denver beat Carolina in Super Bowl 50. The Broncos held on to win the game, 21-20, when Panthers kicker Graham Gano missed a 50-yard field goal with nine seconds to play.
Unless the league announces the opponent before then, the team that will be present for the Seahawks to hang their latest banner will be known on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. ET.
When Romeo Doubs signed with the Patriots in March, he moved to the top of their depth chart at wide receiver but he may not be there at this time next month.
The Patriots are expected to trade for Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown after June 1 and that would move Doubs down the pecking order in the first year of the four-year, $68 million deal he signed in New England. That might not have been exactly what Doubs had in mind after years in a crowded Packers receiver group, but he said on Tuesday that “love to have [Brown] here.”
“I was true to my word when I came here that there is no No. 1 guy in this offense,” Doubs said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com. “So, whatever it is I have to do, whether it’s playing into the strength more or playing on the backside every here and now, or even having [revolving roles], which I’m really familiar with because I’ve done it in Green Bay also. I’m open to all roles. That’s just part of this league. You know, the more you can do, the more you can do for the team, the more you show for yourself, just things of that nature.”
Stefon Diggs led the Patriots with 85 catches for 1,013 yards on their way to an AFC title in 2026, but a Brown/Doubs combo might unlock even more space to grow the passing game this year.
