New England Patriots kicker Joey Slye (13) reacts with New England Patriots punter Bryce Baringer (17) within the third quarter of the NFL recreation at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. There isn’t any extra time for celebration for New England Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo.
Mayo got here away with a victory in his debut, however he’s removed from content material as New England prepares to face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass.
The Patriots (1-0) surprised the Cincinnati Bengals final Sunday, holding them to 13 first downs and 224 yards of whole offense in a 16-10 win. Rhamondre Stevenson shined for New England, speeding for 120 yards and a landing on 25 carries.
Though the Patriots made few errors towards Cincinnati, Mayo believes there may be loads of room for enchancment.
“From a person perspective, the largest leap it’s best to see out of your gamers is from Yr 1 to Yr 2, or Week 1 to Week 2,” Mayo mentioned. “I might say this week, to not look again at Cincinnati, however there are plenty of performs that we left on the market. I believe the gamers acknowledge that.
“When you go to Week 2, we count on everybody to be higher. … And I did allow them to know, ‘What received us the win in Week 1 will not get us the win in Week 2 if we do not proceed to enhance.'”
Taking issues one step at a time is one thing that Seattle coach Mike Macdonald has additionally been emphasizing.
“It is about every apply,” Macdonald mentioned. “You may’t have an excellent Thursday if you do not have a great Wednesday.”
Macdonald, additionally in his first season on the helm, coached the Seahawks (1-0) to a 26-20 victory over the Denver Broncos in Week 1. Like New England, Seattle leaned on its speeding assault, getting 103 yards and a TD on 20 carries from Kenneth Walker III. Quarterback Geno Smith additionally ran for a rating.
Walker would possibly battle to get going towards the Patriots, although, as New England allowed the third-fewest speeding yards within the league final week (70). That’s after all if Walker performs, because the 23-year-old didn’t apply on Wednesday because of an indirect harm.
“Thoroughly-coached, clearly, however they play robust, they’ve good gamers, they play laborious,” Macdonald mentioned of the Patriots. “All the basics, simply go proper down the listing — test, test, test. Play sq., get off blocks, what it takes to play actually good run protection. Numbers again it up, tape backs it up.
“So we received an excellent problem forward of us.”
With Sunday marking the house opener for New England, the Seahawks can even must deal with a Patriots fan base that’s beginning to really feel a renewed sense of optimism after sitting by way of a 4-13 season in 2023.
Nonetheless, Seattle enters the assembly with New England as the favourite.
“They do not actually speak about that,” Mayo mentioned of his gamers discussing the Patriots’ underdog standing. “This goes again to the entire motivation dialog. It is about self-discipline.”
Guard Sidy Sow is coping with an ankle harm and was the one participant to overlook New England’s apply on Wednesday. Working again Antonio Gibson (hip), security Jabrill Peppers (hip), linebacker Joshua Uche (foot) and defensive finish Deatrich Sensible (shoulder) have been amongst these restricted.
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu has already been dominated out for Sunday’s recreation because of a knee harm. Offensive deal with George Fant (knee) and linebacker Tyrel Dodson (shoulder) did not apply for Seattle on Wednesday.
Seven Seahawks have been restricted in apply, together with receiver Tyler Lockett (thigh), tight finish Noah Fant (toe) and cornerbacks Tre Brown (quadricep) and Riq Woolen (hamstring).
–Subject Stage Media
