With their first win of the year in the books, the Patriots are down south for another tough road game with Sunday’s trip to Jacksonville.
New England is coming off a 20-3 victory over the Steelers, a largely comfortable game that left some lingering questions after another underwhelming offensive performance. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has had a slow start to the year with just one touchdown and four interceptions through two games.
The Jaguars were the NFL’s other major turnaround story last season, going from a 4-13 finish in 2024 to a 13-4 campaign in their first year under Rhode Island native Liam Coen. Jacksonville is 1-1 after blowing out the Browns in Week 1 and falling to the Broncos on the road in Week 2.
Week 2 was injury-plagued for the Patriots, who lost several players during the win over the Steelers. Along with right guard Mike Onwenu, who’s expected to miss significant time with an ankle injury suffered against Pittsburgh, New England also ruled out linebackers Quintayvious Hutchins (knee) and Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder) before Sunday. Safety Craig Woodson (shoulder) and tight end Eli Raridon (thigh), both listed as questionable, are inactive for Sunday’s trip to Jacksonville.
The Jaguars largely have a clean injury report — defensive tackle Albert Regis was listed as doubtful before the weekend and is inactive for Sunday.
Kickoff Sunday is set for 1 p.m. in Jacksonville and on CBS. Follow along with play-by-play and analysis from the Globe, with Christopher Price and Nicole Yang in Jacksonville.
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Terrell Williams is back with the Patriots after beating prostate cancer. He has a message for everyone. — 12:15 p.m.
By Christopher L. Gasper
If Terrell Williams possesses a superpower as a football coach, it’s his ability to connect with people from any side of the ball and all walks of life. He talks, people listen.
In a sport defined by tough guys, no one embodies toughness for the Patriots more than their assistant head coach, who is back coaching full time after prostate cancer rocked his world and reduced his role last season. The message from Coach T, a man adept at delivering them, is one that resonates beyond football and beyond September, prostate cancer awareness month.
The most heroic thing you can do is listen to your body.
DeMario Douglas hopes to make the Patriots’ trip to Jacksonville a triumphant homecoming — 12:00 p.m.
By Christopher Price
DeMario Douglas has a nice problem.
The Patriots receiver, who was born in Jacksonville, is headed back to Florida to play in front of friends and family this Sunday. It’s a group that includes his mother, Angie Oxendine, and 82-year-old great-grandmother, Glennie James, who rarely gets a chance to see Douglas play in person.
Asked this week how his ticket requests were coming, Douglas shook his head and smiled.
“My mom is handling all of that,” he said. “Got a lot of people coming out.”
It’s a highly anticipated weekend for Douglas, who grew up rooting for the Jaguars.
Patriots inactives: who’s out and who New England will turn to — 11:40 a.m.
By Christopher Price
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Patriots announced that the following players are inactivated for today’s game. Here’s a look at what the moves mean.
Inactives for the Patriots today:
Safety Craig WoodsonEdge Dre’Mont JonesOT Dametrious CrownoverTE Eli RaridonDT Leonard TaylorBehren Morton (emergency QB)
Jones (shoulder) was downgraded on Friday. Without Jones (and Harold Landry), youngster Elijah Ponder and rookie Gabe Jacas figure to get a ton of action on the edges this afternoon.
Tight end Eli Raridon (thigh), who didn’t finish last week’s game against the Steelers, didn’t practice on Thursday and Friday, so it’s not a surprise he’s down this afternoon. Without him in the lineup, the Patriots will likely turn to undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin.
Safety Craig Woodson (shoulder) was listed as questionable on Friday after sustaining an injury against Pittsburgh. While he was at practice later in the week, he’ll miss his first game of the season this afternoon. Mike Brown, who was elevated off the practice squad Saturday, will likely be counted on for depth at the safety position in his place.
Defensive tackle Leonard Taylor is the only healthy scratch today. Defensive tackle Jeremiah Pharms Jr., who was elevated off the practice squad on Saturday, will be an option as a backup along the interior in place of Taylor.
Offensive tackle Walter Rouse, cornerback Karon Prunty, and linebacker Erick Hunter, all of whom were heathy scratches earlier in the season, are good to go today. Rouse will take over as the backup swing tackle in place of Crownover, who has been dealing with a knee issue the last couple of weeks.
Behren Morton is the emergency quarterback.
Is this the week the Patriots figure out their identity? — 11:30 a.m.
By Chad Finn
Drake Maye is struggling to live up to last season’s excellence and this season’s expectations, Christian Gonzalez is locking down receivers like he wants one of those Defensive Player of the Year awards that recent retiree Stephon Gilmore has, and the Patriots, at 1-1, are going to have to survive injury attrition while they conduct their ongoing search for their 2026 identity.
We’ll have a little more clarity about who, exactly, this team intends to be when it travels to Jacksonville to take on quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the 1-1 Jaguars, who are coming off a sloppy 20-13 loss to the Broncos in Denver.
Here are three players (not named Maye) I’m watching, plus a prediction.
How Travis Hunter impressed Mike Vrabel prior to the 2025 NFL Draft — 11:15 a.m.
By Christopher Price
One of the great “what ifs” regarding the 2025 NFL Draft was the tantalizing possibility of Travis Hunter in a Patriots uniform.
With the Patriots set to pick at No. 4, there was an outside chance the dynamic two-way star out of Colorado might be available, especially with the quarterback-hungry Titans eying Cam Ward at No. 1.
During the NFL Combine that year, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel relayed a story about a conversation he had with Hunter.
“I’m sure Travis doesn’t even know,” said Vrabel, who famously worked as an outside linebacker and part-time tight end in his playing days. “But we were kind of jawing back and forth as he left [the interview], and I said, ‘You’re not the only one who played two ways. Like, there were some other guys who did this, too.’ And he kind of like looked at me, and we laughed.”
The Jaguars have a sneaky-tough home-field advantage — 11:00 a.m.
By Ben Volin
Everbank Stadium.Gary McCullough/AP Photo/Gary McCullough
When the Patriots visit Jacksonville on Sunday, Jaguars coach Liam Coen wants to see the fans go nuts one last time before saying goodbye for a month.
With a road game next week in Cincinnati, followed by “home” games Oct. 11 and 18 in London, then a bye, Sunday will be the last chance Jaguars fans have to see their team until Nov. 1. Coen is hoping for a raucous atmosphere, even with a reduced crowd of 41,156 because of stadium renovations taking place the next two years.
“We need a true home-field advantage this week,” Coen said. “Definitely need the community and fan base to come out and support as much as possible.”
EverBank Stadium, formerly Alltel Stadium and the Jaguars’ only home since becoming an NFL franchise in 1995, will never be confused with the loudest or most iconic stadiums, such as Lambeau, Arrowhead, or Seattle’s Lumen Field. It’s never mentioned in the conversation of best home-field advantages, with Denver’s altitude, Miami’s sweltering humidity, or Buffalo’s lake-effect winters.
But going to Jacksonville in September can be rough. The Jaguars have a 29-28 home record in September, for a .509 win percentage that ranks 22nd since 1995. Compare that with the team’s 18-35 road record in September, a .340 win percentage that ranks 29th.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com. Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com. Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social. Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com. Follow her on X @nicolecyang. Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com. Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.