SAN JOSE \u2014 The New England Patriots touched down in San Jose on Sunday afternoon, and about 24 hours later, they descended on the San Jose Convention Center to preview the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a dream come true for every player and coach in the game, but the media portion of Opening Night probably wasn\u2019t what the Pats\u2019 players envisioned when they were kids.<\/p>\n
Still, New England\u2019s players served up some interesting anecdotes on 49ers players, different NFL fan bases, head-butting coaches and much more as they took the first official step in the build-up for Sunday\u2019s game at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a brief sampling of the Patriots\u2019 quips.<\/p>\n
Maye shoulder update<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t bank on Drake Maye missing Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
After being listed as questionable during the Patriots\u2019 bye week with a shoulder injury, Maye addressed his status for the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good. I\u2019ll be just fine,\u201d he said. \u201cI threw a good bit. I threw as much as I would at a normal practice. I felt great and looking forward to getting back out there Wednesday and Thursday for practice and Friday to get ready for a normal week of prep.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BNG-L-SUPEROPEN-0203-1.jpg\")
New England Patriots starting quarter back Drake Maye answers questions during Super Bowl Opening Night at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patriots\u2019 tight end commends Kittle<\/p>\n
Even while sidelined, George Kittle\u2019s influence on the sport was felt at Super Bowl media day. Patriots tight end Hunter Henry praised the 49ers\u2019 star while also wishing him a speedy recovery from his torn Achilles.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a guy we all kind of look to,\u201d Henry said. \u201cHe has played at a high level for so long at the top of this league. I hate to see him go down with an injury. I know the work he puts in and everything that he does, and everything that it entails. He\u2019s a tremendous player and also a tremendous person. I have so much respect for him as a player and as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish him a quick recovery and hopefully we can see him back on the field really soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams talks Vrabel head-butts<\/p>\n
Milton Williams is one of the few NFL players \u2013 maybe the only one? \u2014 to be seen on camera head-butting his head coach Mike Vrabel.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t intentional, but Williams, wearing full pads and a helmet, hit Vrabel in the head and drew blood while celebrating with a boisterous hug after the Patriots\u2019 playoff win over the Chargers.<\/p>\n
So what will he do if the Patriots win on Sunday? It\u2019s likely he and Vrabel would be on a collision course once again.<\/p>\n
Or whoever else gets in the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always see him on the sideline,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe knows how to push our buttons and get us going. So he was the first one there, and that was to celebrate with him. When we won last week, I didn\u2019t see Vrabel. The first person I saw was Eliot (Wolf). So I tried to do the same thing I did with Vrabes, try to hype him up, and I had knocked him over in the snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody got their own camera, they gonna go find it and see it on the sideline. But it\u2019s just a lot of pure emotion, man, just going out there and having fun with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolf, by the way, is the Patriots\u2019 executive vice president of player personnel.<\/p>\n
Vrabel gets Club America jersey, discusses football\/futbol<\/p>\n
Speaking of Vrabel, he received a jersey from a representative from Mexican soccer club Club America. He then proceeded to pontificate on what name the sport should use.<\/p>\n
With the World Cup coming to Santa Clara and many other U.S. cities this summer, including the Patriots\u2019 home stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, soccer \u2013 or football \u2013 was on the mind in San Jose.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it not Mexican football?\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cOK, good. Because everybody else calls it futbol.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NFL has played games in Mexico City in recent years at Club America\u2019s stadium. Vrabel alluded to American football\u2019s growing popularity in Mexico in another portion of his response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate your support,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cThank you for helping us grow the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams on Philly, New England fan bases<\/p>\n
Williams won a championship last year with Philadelphia, so he knows all about passionate fan bases.<\/p>\n
But his answer regarding the difference between Philly and New England fans may align with what some 49ers fans experienced when traveling to Philadelphia for road games in past years, including the NFC championship in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew England is probably more passionate,\u201d Williams said. \u201cPhilly fans, like, they don\u2019t care about that. They\u2019re gonna do whatever. It\u2019s even, but I feel like the Patriots fans, they don\u2019t want to get in trouble. Philly fans, they don\u2019t care about that. They don\u2019t care if they go to jail. They\u2019ll do whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maye may try quesadilla<\/p>\n
Drake Maye likes Mexican food, evidently. He\u2019s in a good spot to get some this week, and he plans to check it out if he can find the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cQueso and quesadilla are my favorite Mexican dishes,\u201d Maye said. I can\u2019t go without Mexican food. I know they have some good Mexican out here, so I may try some.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Football](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BNG-L-SUPEROPEN-0203-9.jpg\")
Football fans listen to a New England Patriots player during Super Bowl Opening Night at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2014 The New England Patriots touched down in San Jose on Sunday afternoon, and about 24…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[389,184,7,392,332,949,402,57766,181,992,7286,3938,752,993,395,101,396,88,90,89,397,198,3234,2720,3628,200,127,11191],"class_list":{"0":"post-161357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-contra-costa-county","12":"tag-east-bay","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-inside-sports","15":"tag-lake-county","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-marin-county","18":"tag-mendocino-county","19":"tag-napa-county","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-north-bay","22":"tag-peninsula","23":"tag-san-francisco","24":"tag-san-francisco-county","25":"tag-san-jose","26":"tag-san-jose-headlines","27":"tag-san-jose-news","28":"tag-san-mateo-county","29":"tag-santa-clara-county","30":"tag-santa-cruz-county","31":"tag-solano-county","32":"tag-sonoma-county","33":"tag-south-bay","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-super-bowl-lx"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}