Mike ReissMar 22, 2026, 09:00 PM
CloseMike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Maye’s FAU visit: The ties that bind throughout the game of football are always growing, leading to new connections and memorable behind-the-scenes moments. That’s one way to describe last week’s meetup between Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, three returning wide receivers, and Florida Atlantic University head coach Zach Kittley and his team.
Here’s how it unfolded:
Maye and his wife, Ann Michael, had escaped the seemingly never-ending frigid winter in New England for some South Florida sunshine. Receivers Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas and Kyle Williams were already there, and Maye was looking for a place to throw with them.
Kittley was happy to oblige.
“We have mutual [friends] and he just shot me a text, ‘Hey Coach, I’d love to bring the guys out. Would you be willing to let us come use your facility to throw?’ I said absolutely,” Kittley relayed in an interview with ESPN. “I didn’t know him personally until I got to see him [Wednesday].”
It helped that Kittley, 33, who is in his second season at the Boca Raton school, had received glowing reports about Maye from quarterback Bailey Zappe.
Kittley was Zappe’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky, and the two remain close. Meanwhile, Zappe and Maye developed their own connection throughout the 2024 offseason/preseason when both were backups to veteran Jacoby Brissett in New England.
— Florida Atlantic Football (@FAUFootball) March 18, 2026
Those ties led to a memorable Wednesday for Kittley’s team, which was in its first week of spring practice.
“Just interacting with those guys, seeing who they are as people. I didn’t sit there and hang out with them for hours, but I can tell you Drake seems like an unbelievable person, first and foremost. I’m all for helping great people. He was willing to talk to those guys and answer any questions they might have had,” Kittley said.
“You’re looking at the best of the best, a team that just played in the Super Bowl. So [our players] watched how they worked their craft. Any time you can have professional football players out here who can give you some pointers, and show you kind of what it’s supposed to look like, all that can do is help us. Our guys enjoyed it.”
One example, according to Kittley, came when Maye, Hollins, Williams and Douglas were focusing on a couple of route concepts. Owls coaches and players watched closely and noted how it looked similar to what they practiced.
To Kittley, it tied to his belief that many teams are doing similar things, and there’s no need to overcomplicate things.
“We’re here at FAU and these dudes just played in the Super Bowl are running the exact same concepts, we’re teaching it the same way, we’re trying to run the route the same way. I thought as far as that went for our receivers, that was really cool, and that resonated with me being a coach, and those guys as well,” he said.
Kittley’s expertise has been as a developer of quarterbacks, which included working with Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb at Texas Tech. In his eight seasons as an offensive coordinator, quarterback coach and playcaller, Kittley’s teams have averaged 456.7 yards and 34.0 points per game.
As for what he saw from Maye on the FAU practice field, he said: “I didn’t realize how big he was — man, he’s a big guy. Just watching him throw the ball around, super smooth, very nice release. Extremely, extremely accurate with the football. That was probably the biggest thing I saw — every ball he threw was right on the money, wideouts never had to [break] stride. He was awesome. I know we’re just throwing on air but he was pinpoint with every throw.”‘
Drake Maye’s signature accuracy impressed Florida Atlantic University coach during a visit last week. Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire
2. BC pro day: One of the signature spring events on the New England football calendar is set for Monday, with 27 NFL teams and four Canadian Football League teams scheduled to be in attendance for Boston College’s pro day.
Ten players from Bill O’Brien’s squad are set to participate, headlined by offensive linemen Jude Bowry and Logan Taylor, receiver Lewis Bond, defensive end Quintayvious Hutchins and long snapper Ben Mann. In addition, Wagner running back Andre Hines Jr. and Dartmouth offensive lineman Delby Lemieux are scheduled to participate based on their BC/New England ties.
As usual, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a strong Patriots contingent on hand, with coach Mike Vrabel’s high regard for O’Brien well documented. Vrabel has credited O’Brien, who hired him for his first NFL assistant job in Houston (2014), with helping him prepare to become a head coach.
3. Eagle projections: ESPN NFL draft analyst Field Yates projects Bowry as BC’s likely top draft pick, in the range of a late Day 2 (Rounds 2-3) or early Day 3 selection (Rounds 4-7).
Yates adds that Taylor will appeal to teams looking for a “jumbo-sized guard” later in the draft, while Bond’s slot-based size and lack of return experience might push him down some teams’ boards although he is one of his favorite “Day 3 sleeper” receivers due to his toughness and instinctiveness.
4. Eyes on OL: The Patriots ranked sixth in the NFL last season in terms of most snaps played together by starting offensive linemen — a general run of good health they can’t necessarily rely on happening again in 2026. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf pinpointed more OL depth and competition as something the Patriots are still eyeing.
The Patriots’ projected starting line is left tackle Will Campbell, left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, center Jared Wilson, right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses. Any team hopes to have its top group for 17 regular-season games — which seldom happens across the NFL — and Vera-Tucker’s injury history (two torn triceps, one torn Achilles) and Moses entering his 13th season at age 35 are among the Patriots-based considerations on the importance of building up the backup spots.
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Other than top center/guard reserve Ben Brown, the Patriots’ depth is unproven. Marcus Bryant, the 2025 seventh-round pick who was a healthy scratch for the final nine games of 2025, is currently the top swing tackle. And Caedan Wallace, who was active for just four games as a backup in 2025, is the next guard/tackle option.
5. A.J. Brown math: If the Eagles traded the receiver before June 1, they would absorb $43.5 million in dead money on their salary cap ($20.1 million more than his current cap charge). If they traded Brown after June 1, the dead money on their salary cap would be $16.353 million.
That simple math highlights why any deal for Brown, with the Patriots a top suitor, wouldn’t be finalized until June 1.
6. Byard and Brown: Veteran safety Kevin Byard III said he kept his residence in Nashville, Tennessee, from his playing days as a Titan (2016-23) and plays golf at the same country club as Vrabel, who also retained roots in the area. That helps explain seeing Byard working out last week in Nashville with other former Titans teammates, including Brown.
7. Forge ahead: The fourth installment of the Patriots’ popular “Forged in Foxborough” series dropped last week. Dubbed “Warriors,” it is filled with behind-the-scenes footage, including halftime locker-room speeches, team meetings, and a pre-Super Bowl offensive line dinner when running back TreVeyon Henderson learns what a Shirley Temple is for the first time. At a time when the 2026 team is taking shape, you could feel the special camaraderie of the 2025 squad.
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8. Cap check: After agreeing to a one-year deal with cornerback Kindle Vildor last week, the Patriots currently project to have about $32 million in salary cap space — which is the ninth most in the NFL, according to OverTheCap. The Seahawks (about $38 million) are sixth, so both Super Bowl teams are in solid cap health.
9. Bowen’s visit: Shane Bowen, who served as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator in Tennessee and most recent was the New York Giants defensive coordinator, visited Gillette Stadium last week. Vrabel announced his 2026 coaching staff last week, so all spots are filled, but the visit reflects the strong connection between the two and others on Vrabel’s staff who had worked under Bowen with the Titans.
10. Did You Know: Coming off a 2025 season in which Maye set the Patriots’ single-season record with a 72% completion percentage, Maye is vying to become only the third NFL player with multiple seasons of at least a 70.0 completion percentage, joining Joe Burrow (2021 and 2024) and Drew Brees (2009, 2011, 2016-20).