{"id":412470,"date":"2026-09-28T03:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T03:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/412470\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T03:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T03:14:11","slug":"milton-williams-takes-blame-but-patriots-defense-fell-apart-against-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/412470\/","title":{"rendered":"Milton Williams takes blame, but Patriots defense fell apart against Jaguars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Williams preaches personal accountability \u2014 particularly when it comes to stopping the run \u2014 but it was a team effort on Sunday. Just as the defense as a unit deserved congratulations for being the No. 1 scoring defense in the league after two weeks<\/a>, the same group bears responsibility for the ugliness against the Jaguars.<\/p>\n

It was an afternoon that brought back memories of the bad old days of 2023 and 2024, when the Patriots were boat-raced by New Orleans and Dallas, among others. There were no surprises. No out-of-the-ordinary offensive game plans. They did get one takeaway on a Marcus Jones second-quarter interception, but other than that, they were simply knocked back off the ball, play after play. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you don\u2019t get off the field on third down, it just creates more chances,\u201d shrugged coach Mike Vrabel. \u201cAnd we got tired, missed a ton of tackles, and they pushed the piles. And that\u2019s what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Patriots were missing edge rusher Dre\u2019Mont Jones and safety Craig Woodson, but it\u2019s hard to believe they would have mattered much. Simply put, the defense had no answer for Jacksonville. Trevor Lawrence had all the time he needed in the pocket. His stat line looked relatively pedestrian \u2014 19-for-29 passing for 182 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception \u2014 but he went untouched for sizable portions of the afternoon as the Patriots struggled to get consistent pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came in with their plan and they executed better than we did,\u2019 said cornerback Christian Gonzalez. \u201c[Lawrence] was able to move the ball around. They were able to run the ball and give the ball to his playmakers. So props to them; you know, that\u2019s a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jaguars converted on 66.7 percent of their third-down attempts. Other than the one sack of Lawrence, Jacksonville had just two plays end with negative yardage. Running back Bhayshul Tuten led Jacksonville with 15 carries for 73 yards for a gaudy 4.9 yards per carry. <\/p>\n

And while no one was pointing the finger at the offense, the Jaguars got multiple short fields \u2014 thanks in part to Drake Maye\u2019s generosity (two interceptions and one lost fumble \u2014 and were 5 for 5 in red-zone scoring.<\/p>\n

\"JaguarsJaguars cornerback Travis Hunter picked off a pass intended for Patriots wide receiver Efton Chism III (right) in the end zone.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

\u201cInexcusable, regardless of how many turnovers that we had,\u201d said safety Kevin Byard. \u201cCan\u2019t win the game like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

All that being said, it felt like it was still within reach at the half. The Patriots were down, 14-3, but were set to receive the second-half kickoff. A quick score and a stop would get them right back into it. At least, that\u2019s how Williams felt.<\/p>\n

But there was little to no response. Jacksonville attempted just one pass in the fourth quarter, but still outscored the Patriots, 7-3.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, to be completely honest, I felt like we let them off the hook in the second half,\u201d said Williams. \u201cWe let them off the hook, and we didn\u2019t get to take advantage of the opportunities that we should have taken advantage of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams takes some small measure of satisfaction in knowing that critics were ready to bury the Patriots after a 2-2 start last year. That was the same team that had a prime-time game against the Bills looming in Week 5. It was a contest that turned their season around<\/a>, and came to define their \u201cwe all we got, we all we need\u201d ethos.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Maye felt the pressure from the Jaguars’ defense.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

In a weird bit of happenstance, a 1-2 New England team will be heading to Western New York next week, trying to right a reeling ship. Before gathering his things and heading out the door to the bus, Williams said he was banking on the same sort of response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a week-to-week league, man. We\u2019ve got to put our best foot forward every week. Today, I feel that we didn\u2019t do that. But it\u2019s Week 3. Week 3. We did it last year,\u201d Williams said. \u201cNow, we watch the tape, get better from it, flush it, and get ready for Buffalo.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Williams preaches personal accountability \u2014 particularly when it comes to stopping the run \u2014 but it was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,12004],"class_list":["post-412470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-patriots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}