FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Road Warriors: As the “home” team in their matchup with the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX (Feb. 8; 6:30 p.m. ET), the Patriots had the choice of jersey.
Captains and the leadership council chose the standard road white jersey with white pants, and it highlights one of the themes of the Patriots’ season — they are “road warriors,” the first team to post a 9-0 record away from home.
They’ve taken the theme and run with it. It began with coach Mike Vrabel showing a clip of the 1979 film “The Warriors” in an October meeting as the Patriots were embracing a stretch of three straight road games — at Buffalo, New Orleans and Tennessee. The Patriots had pulled off a 33-27 road win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, and Vrabel was looking for a way to highlight the importance of continuing to come together to start a road winning streak.
“I ran out of [WWE] clips to show them about the ‘Road Warriors’ [tag team]. So, the next thing I could think of was that movie clip, and that’s what we went with,” he said. “It’s amazing what sticks. Here we are at the end of January, and it’s still sticking.”
So much so that veteran wide receiver Mack Hollins arrived at the AFC Championship Game in Denver last Sunday dressed as one of the main characters of the film, Luther, and reenacted one of the iconic scenes as he walked from the team bus to the locker room. Hollins had glass bottles clanking in his hand while repeating the line “Warriors, come out to play!”
Mack Hollins – “Warriors!” pic.twitter.com/yQJytzZHE4
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 25, 2026
Likewise, Vrabel referenced it in his postgame speech to players. It has become one of the team’s rallying cries.
WARRIORSSSSSS pic.twitter.com/32dTNvra6U
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 26, 2026
Vrabel joked that when he first showed the team a clip of the movie, director of sports performance Frank Piraino emptied two bottles of soy sauce and a bottle of Red Hot and walked around the team facility to highlight the theme.
“And then Mack studied long and hard,” Vrabel said jokingly.
Quarterback Drake Maye, 23, said it’s all about building an identity and carrying it on the road — such as last Sunday in the AFC Championship Game at Denver.
“I think that one last week was kind of the epitome of what this ‘Road Warriors’ is like. It’s not pretty. It’s not going to be everything we wanted,” Maye said.
“There’s times on the road where we’ve been on fire, and there’s times when you’re just trying to do whatever you can to win. I think that’s what playoff football is about, and some of the guys are bought into it to the fullest like Mack, and it’s funny to see. So, I hadn’t seen the movie, but I think he killed the reference.”
Veteran receiver Stefon Diggs has enjoyed it as well.
“Going on the road, into a hostile environment, it’s something we just kind of got conditioning to doing,” he said. “A lot of guys from this team come from different backgrounds, different teams, being cut, signed in free agency. There’s no sob story. We’re going to band together and find a way to win. I think that’s why the ‘Road Warrior’ mentality translated so well.”
2. Super schedule: Some things to know about the Patriots’ plans leading up to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California:
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Sunday: Send-off rally at Gillette Stadium; the team is scheduled to arrive at San José Mineta International Airport at 6:30 p.m. ET
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Monday: First practice (Stanford); opening night festivities (8-9 p.m. ET) at San Jose Convention Center
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Tuesday: Standard players day off; Vrabel news conference, plus nine players (2 p.m. ET)
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Wednesday: Second practice; Vrabel news conference, plus assistant coaches and players (11 a.m. ET)
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Thursday: Third practice; Vrabel news conference, plus assistant coaches and players (11 a.m. ET) — families arrive
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Friday: Fourth practice
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Saturday: Walkthrough and team photo
“We want our players and our families that are important to us to enjoy this process,” Vrabel said about the upcoming week.
As the Patriots kicked off their preparations at their home facility this past week, Maye said Vrabel brought things full circle for players by referencing the hopes they shared with each other at the start of the season.
“Look where we’re at now. All those hopes are coming to a reality,” Maye said, crediting the message for setting the tone for the week as players understood the job isn’t complete.
3. Practice plan: The Patriots’ game plan for first, second and third down was installed during practices this week — and that figures to be reviewed in the days leading up to the game. Vrabel also said that the red zone, planning for specific situations and how the timing of the Super Bowl is longer (pregame, halftime, the number of TV timeouts etc.) will be among the things to cover during their four practices at Stanford.
In mapping out the overall schedule, Vrabel said not covering too much too quickly was essential as it relates to keeping players engaged.
4. Opening night nuggets: Every coach and player is available as part of opening night, and most will be spread throughout the San Jose Convention Center.
There are 11 risers, however, and they are usually assigned to those anticipated to draw the largest media crowd. The risers have already been assigned to the following: tight end Hunter Henry (riser 1), Maye (2), running back Rhamondre Stevenson (3), running back TreVeyon Henderson (4), Diggs (5), outside linebacker Harold Landry III (6), linebacker Robert Spillane (7), Vrabel (8), defensive tackle Milton Williams (9), cornerback Christian Gonzalez (10) and cornerback Marcus Jones (11).
Rookie left tackle Will Campbell said Vrabel described the week to the team this way: “A lot of chaos, a lot of media, a lot of questions — that type of stuff,” he said.
5. Pressure paramount: Williams has been integral to helping the Patriots’ 57 postseason pressures, which is the fifth most in the NFL since ESPN Research began tracking them in 2009. He said keeping that trend against Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is paramount.
“I always put the game on us, to be able to control the line of scrimmage,” said Williams, who is playing in the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. “They have a quarterback back there just like [the Texans’] C.J. Stroud. If you keep him clean, he can make all the throws. It’s our job to get back there, speed him up, get him off the spot, and try to take advantage and make him put the ball in harm’s way.”
6. Gonzo’s growth: Vrabel shared his viewpoint that Gonzalez has been a different player and person since around the team’s Dec. 21 win at Baltimore, noting “there’s just a presence” with him.
“Not that anything was wrong. I just felt him. I just felt when he blitzed, when he covered, him start to continue to impact at a greater level,” Vrabel said, adding that the Patriots will need him to play big against Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Co. in Super Bowl LX.
Gonzalez said he couldn’t pinpoint a change but that he appreciated Vrabel sharing that thought with him.
7. Westover’s ties: Patriots fullback Jack Westover, who has played 24.2% of the offensive snaps this season and is a core contributor on special teams, was a popular media subject for Seattle sports radio last week because he played for the University of Washington and has Bellevue, Washington, roots.
In an interview on KJR 93.3 FM, Westover said in training camp that his sister bet $5 on a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl … and the payout was $18,000.
“She has her second baby on the way, so she’s happy about that,” Westover said with a laugh.
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Why Stephen A. says Drake Maye has more to prove in Super Bowl LX
Stephen A. Smith says Drake Maye has more pressure on him than Sam Darnold heading into the Super Bowl.
8. Drake’s kneel-downs: Maye often says his favorite play is “Victory Formation,” and he has had plenty of practice at it.
In a reflection of the Patriots’ success, he had 18 end-of-game kneel-downs for minus-21 yards in the regular season and another eight for minus-8 yards in the playoffs.
Consider how taking them away would impact his rushing average (including playoffs):
To put those numbers further into context, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen led QBs with 5.0 yards per carry on 135 touches this season (including playoffs).
9. Did You Know, Part I: Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed has three kickoff/punt return touchdowns this season, and Jones has two punt returns for a touchdown, making this just the second Super Bowl to feature opposing players who had multiple kick/punt return touchdowns that season. The other was 1999 with Tony Horne (Rams) and Derrick Mason (Titans).
10. Did You Know, Part II: Of the 38 teams to play in the Super Bowl since 2007 (when ESPN began tracking snap-count data), the Patriots’ 18.2% of snaps played by rookies is the highest among that group. New England is set to become the first Super Bowl team to start two rookies — Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson — on the offensive line.
