- The short-week quick-turnaround changes things significantly from the norm. It’s been an urgent fast-forward for Patriots coaches and players from Sunday’s 26-19 win over the Jets to preparation for Thursday’s road game against the Bears. LB Robert Spillane talked about making sure he hit the weight room immediately after the game, while CB Christian Gonzalez (pictured) was set to spend 20 minutes in the cold tub. Those things would normally be delayed a day or so. How players handle these situations – physically and mentally – play a huge factor in how Thursday games unfold. That’s one of the big takeaways this week.
- With the accelerated timeline, my routine was also altered. I did more of a quick review of the win over the Jets – solid teams find a way to pull through when not at their best — and moved ahead to work on the Bears, which includes a deeper-dive story on ESPN.com I’m excited to share Thursday. With just one game on the NFL schedule, it’s an opportunity to shine the spotlight on the Patriots nationally, and in this case on a player I’ve enjoyed getting to know that I hope football fans will appreciate.
- Wasn’t expecting that from WR A.J. Brown — 10 targets, career-high 3 drops, muffed attempt at onside-kick recovery. And don’t expect to see it again; he’s too good of a player. Brown said his timing was off. I thought he moved well coming off the right high-ankle sprain and created notable separation. QB Drake Maye was decisive Tuesday when asked how he’s seen Brown respond this week. “It’s A.J. Brown,” he said, as if to politely suggest the question didn’t need to be asked, before putting some of Brown’s struggles on himself for inaccurate throws.
- Run defense is a top “concern” coming off the Jets game. That was too easy for the Jets at times in the first half, with safety Kevin Byard III sharing his view that too many defenders were out of their gaps and playing “peekaboo” and there was inconsistent tackling (Byard called himself out for that). In a standard week, when the Patriots wear full shoulder pads for Thursday practices, that would be the time to drill down on those fundamentals. But that isn’t an option this week, so they’ll have to reset mentally and rely on the foundation of work they’ve built to this point going back to training camp. The Bears are the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack.
- Mike Vrabel’s annoyance at the Patriots’ turnovers reached a new level. The Patriots’ 13 giveaways are the second highest total in the NFL behind the Chargers’ 15. Their minus-6 turnover differential ranks 30th. It will be difficult to win in Chicago with more careless play and perhaps that’s what Vrabel was thinking when he said on sports radio WEEI, “We turn the ball over at a historic rate and it’s ridiculous. It’s an embarrassment.”
- Mike Vrabel vs. Ben Johnson. Sign me up for this one. Great coaching matchup. If you made a list of the current top head-coaches and culture-creators in the NFL, they’re both in my top-5. My current list — Vrabel, Johnson, Mike Macdonald, Liam Coen, Kevin O’Connell. No disrespect to those who might land on others’ lists (Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan etc.), but if you cut it off at five, there are tough calls to be made.
- One thought on the psychological aspect of this week with a nationally-televised road Thursday game and everyone grinding away out of their normal routines: I took note of the final thing Maye said in his Tuesday press conference, because it felt like a tone-setter from Vrabel from a this-week-is-hard-but-let’s-not-forget-to-be-grateful standpoint: “Have some fun and realize what this game is. These weeks kind of roll on at this stage, and you’ve got a new opponent, and you kind of lose sight of how blessed we are to play this game and how fortunate and how fun we can make it. It’s really fun to get out there, score points and be in high-pressure situations. I think you’ve got to enjoy those moments because those are pretty cool, and you don’t get those at home when you guys are in the stands just watching us. I think you get it in the field when you’re out there in live action.”