Wide receiver Tyreek Hill has missed practice time with a wrist injury the last two weeks, but it looks like he may be taking a new approach to this week.
Hill did not miss any game action and his wrist was feeling well enough for him to take part in practice on a limited basis Wednesday. Assuming there’s no setback, Hill looks to be on track to play against the Patriots this weekend as well.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey (knee), fullback Alec Ingold (calf), defensive tackle Benito Jones (shoulder), guard Robert Jones (knee, groin), and offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn (quad, knee) were also limited participants.
Defensive lineman Calais Campbell and safety Jordan Poyer had rest days. Left tackle Terron Armstead (knee) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) were the other players to miss practice.
The Patriots got defensive lineman Christian Barmore on the field for the first time this season last week and they’ll be getting an offensive lineman back this week.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters at his Wednesday press conference that guard Cole Strange will practice with the team for the first time this year. Strange has been out since tearing his patellar tendon in Week 15 last season and is currently on the physically unable to perform list.
Strange was a 2022 first-round pick and became the starting left guard during his rookie season. He has started all 27 games he’s played as a professional.
Strange can be activated at any point in the next 21 days once he’s formally designated to return, so he could be in the lineup in Miami this weekend if all goes well.
Former Patriots cornerback Marco Wilson is on to Cincinnati.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Bengals have claimed Wilson off of waivers. The Patriots cut Wilson on Monday in order to make room for cornerback Alex Austin’s return from injured reserve.
Wilson played 206 defensive snaps in 10 games for the Patriots this season. He had 15 tackles and a pass defensed in those appearances.
Wilson also played in one game for the Patriots in 2023 and the 2021 fourth-round pick opened his career by playing in 43 games for the Cardinals. He had 158 tackles, three interceptions, 19 passes defensed, and three forced fumbles in Arizona.
The Patriots signed linebacker Titus Leo to their active roster off the Colts’ practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
Leo, 25, has not appeared in a regular-season game.
The Colts made him a sixth-round pick in 2023, and he spent his rookie season on injured reserve. This season, he has bounced between the active roster and practice squad.
The Patriots also announced they placed linebacker Curtis Jacobs on injured reserve and released linebacker Ochaun Mathis.
They claimed Jacobs off waivers from the Chiefs on Aug. 28. The rookie free agent played nine games with two starts for the Patriots, totaling one tackle and three special teams tackles.
Mathis signed with the Patriots’ 53-player roster from the practice squad on Oct. 29 after being elevated from the practice squad for the maximum three times. He has played five games, totaling one tackle and one special teams tackle.
He entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Rams in 2023.
Mathis appeared in eight games as a rookie and made two total tackles.
After coaching against Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on Sunday, Rams head coach Sean McVay came away impressed.
“He looks like a stud,” McVay said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “I didn’t do too much work on him coming out [of college]. I do know a lot of people that studied him really hard, that I truly respect their opinions, and they loved what he was all about. You can just see the impact he has on his teammates. He looks like he’s going to be a special player for a long time.”
The Rams won, but Maye completed 30 of 40 passes for 282 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, and McVay said he gave the Rams’ defense everything it could handle.
“I thought he did a great job making plays in the pocket, was patient, taking some underneath check-downs where guys were able to create. We had tighter coverages and he was able to fit the ball into tight windows,” McVay said.
Six starts into his NFL career, Maye is showing the traits that made the Patriots select him with the third pick in the draft, and giving the Patriots confidence that the biggest piece of their rebuild is in place.
Monday night’s game essentially ended after Cowboys offensive lineman Tyler Guyton tried to do his best Tony Dorsett impression. And failed.
Guyton had no business attempting to run with the ball after recovering a tumble. It was obvious the moment he got the thing in his hands.
He was promptly blown up by Texans safety Jalen Pitre, who knocked it loose and allowed Texans defensive end Derek Barnett to complete the sack, forced fumble, fumble return for touchdown trifecta.
Discussing the game-deciding moment on Tuesday’s PFT Live, Devin McCourty talked about former Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s method when it comes to coaching players to properly approach fumbles. It’s worth your time to listen to what Devin had to say.
And it’s a critical aspect of offense, defense, and special teams. There’s a loose ball. What should the player do?
McCourty said Belichick would do specific drills aimed at giving players a chance to try to recover fumbles, with coaching points on what to do differently.
As to Guyton, he either ignored coaching to not try to run with a loose ball — or he didn’t get it.
After the game, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said of the play, “We’re not teaching linemen to carry the ball.” That’s good. The better statement would be this: “We regularly coach linemen to get on the ball and not even try to pick it up and run with it. We practice that. We talk about it. We show the players examples of other plays from other games that had the same outcome as this one.”
It’s just one of the many details that must be recognized and mastered to give a football team the best chance to get a win.
Not to deserve a win. To earn a win. Because a football team whose linemen don’t know what to do when the football is bouncing around at their feet isn’t a football that is prepared to go out and earn a win.
Cornerback Alex Austin is back on the active roster in New England.
The Patriots announced on Monday that they have activated Austin from injured reserve. Austin has been out since injuring his ankle in the third game of the regular season.
Austin played 14 defensive snaps and 20 special teams snaps in the first three weeks. He had nine tackles and an interception in five games with the team last year.
The Patriots waived cornerback Marco Wilson in order to create a spot for Austin. Wilson appeared in 10 games for the Patriots this season and made 15 tackles. Two of those tackles came in Sunday’s loss to the Rams.
After a clunker on Monday night, the Rams needed a bounce-back performance against a scrappy Patriots team.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford was happy to oblige, throwing for four touchdowns in a 28-22 victory on Sunday afternoon.
While Los Angeles’ offense started slow, the unit got going in the second quarter with an 80-yard drive that ended with Stafford’s first touchdown of the day — a 5-yard pass to Cooper Kupp.
It didn’t take the Rams long to score again, as a strip-sack of Drake Maye resulted in Los Angeles getting the ball at the New England 12. On the first play of the possession, Stafford connected with Puka Nacua for a touchdown to give L.A. a 14-7 lead.
Kicker Joshua Karty missed a 26-yard field goal off the right upright to end the second quarter. But the Rams started the second half with a 69-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Kupp — giving Kupp his first multi-receiving touchdown game since Week 2 of the 2022 season.
Stafford threw his fourth TD on the following drive, completing one in the back of the end zone to tight end Colby Parkinson for a 19-yard score.
It was the 17th time Stafford’s thrown at least four touchdowns in a game in his career. He last did it a few weeks ago when the Rams defeated the Vikings.
Stafford finished the game 18-of-27 for 295 yards with four TDs and no picks — good for a 142.7 passer rating.
Nacua led with seven catches for 123 yards with a touchdown. Kupp had six catches for 106 yards with two touchdowns. Kyren Williams picked up 86 yards in 15 carries.
On the other side, the Patriots had multiple opportunities deep in Los Angeles territory but ended up settling for field goals. Down 21-10 midway through the third quarter, New England had fourth-and-goal at the L.A. 2 and head coach Jerod Mayo elected to settle for a field goal. A delay of game penalty pushed the club back, which meant Joey Slye’s kick was good from 25 yards.
Then, down 29-19 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the L.A. 19. But Ja’Lynn Polk committed a false start penalty, inducing New England to settle for a 42-yard field goal to make the score 28-22.
The Patriots had one last opportunity for a two-minute drive. But after Maye was sacked for the third time on the day, he threw an interception to safety Kamren Kinchens that effectively ended the game.
Maye finished 30-of-40 passing for 282 yards with two touchdowns and the lone interception, though he also lost a fumble.
With the win, the Rams are now 5-5 and still in the thick of things in the NFC West. It was Sean McVay’s 75th regular-season win, which is tied for most in franchise history with the late John Robinson. Los Angeles will face Philadelphia in Week 12 on Sunday Night Football.
At 3-8, the Patriots will be on the road for a divisional matchup against the Dolphins in Week 12.
The Patriots had not had much success blitzing quarterback Matthew Stafford in the first half of Sunday’s matchup with the Rams.
That trend continued in a big way early in the second half.
Facing an all-out blitz, Stafford delivered a dime to Cooper Kupp over the middle of the field — and Kupp had no one in front of him, scoring a 69-yard touchdown.
Kupp’s second touchdown of the day gave Los Angeles a 21-10 lead early in the third quarter. Kupp had not recorded multiple receiving touchdowns in a game since Week 2 of the 2022 season.
It was just the second play of the drive after Kyren Williams began the half with a 1-yard run.
Stafford is now 12-of-17 passing for 222 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Rams started slow against the Patriots on Sunday, but hold a 14-10 lead at halftime.
While New England got out to a 7-0 lead, the game started to turn in Los Angeles’ favor in the second quarter when the Rams drove 80 yards and scored on Cooper Kupp’s 5-yard touchdown.
Then on New England’s ensuing drive, rookie defensive end Braden Fiske strip-sacked fellow rookie Drake Maye with defensive tackle Kobie Turner recovering the loose ball at New England’s 12-yard line.
On the next play, Matthew Stafford hit Nacua in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, giving Los Angeles a 14-7 lead with 5:45 in the first half.
Nacua had to lay out for the touchdown on the right side of the end zone and apparently paid for it. He stayed down and was examined by trainers on the field before heading to the sideline medical tent. But according to multiple reporters on the scene, he emerged from the tent and was back in the game on the next series.
Los Angeles had a chance to expand its lead late at the end of the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal. But Joshua Karty banged the short attempt off the right upright, keeping the Rams’ lead at four points.
Stafford is 11-of-16 passing for 153 yards with two touchdowns. Nacua already has six catches for 117 yards with a touchdown. Kyren Wiliams has 49 yards on nine carries with Blake Corum taking four carries for 21 yards.
On the other side, Maye is 14-of-21 for 150 yards with a touchdown. Rhamondre Stevenson has 36 yards on seven carries with DeMario Douglas catching three passes for 53 yards.
Karty’s missed field goal squandered a chance for the Rams to double up, as Los Angeles will receive the second-half kickoff.
