Another trend I truly cannot figure out?<\/p>\n
Drake \u201cDrake Maye\u201d Maye.\u00a0That\u2019s the New England Patriots quarterback\u2019s nickname, to the confusion of almost anyone who\u2019s not obsessively online, including Maye\u2019s teammate<\/a>, Kayshon Boutte.<\/p>\n But if you\u2019re worried this is just about the stage of life I\u2019m in, I do remember the 21st night of September.<\/p>\n That was the last time the Patriots lost a football game. It came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and everything for New England (and Pittsburgh!) has looked different since. Who saw that coming?<\/p>\n And here\u2019s something else I do know: Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson were the names every owner wanted last offseason. Now? Those two have their new teams leading their conferences, and one of them will probably win NFL Coach of the Year. (I have a vote. I\u2019m undecided. Still plenty of time.)<\/p>\n The Patriots are on their bye, but Bears-Packers? This is the biggest game those two franchises have played since the end of the 2013 regular season. The NFL\u2019s oldest rivalry is back and actually meaningful<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just one of three games this week featuring two teams with at least eight wins. My football family, Week 14 is a monster<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I\u2019m hearing about:<\/strong><\/p>\n A reset on the reset<\/p>\n This was supposed to be the Tom Brady turnaround in Las Vegas: the greatest quarterback of all time stepping in and shaping an aimless organization, with a blueprint straight from the mountaintop of champions.<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t know what the plan is. I don\u2019t think anyone knows,\u201d one Raider said this week when asked if he felt good about the future of the team. At 2-10, the Raiders sit at the bottom of their division again.<\/p>\n So much was said about what Brady would actually be doing as a minority owner, and I can tell you that teams around the league were watching nervously, worried the Raiders might get the full benefit of the \u201cBrady Way.\u201d The first sign of that new order? The arrival of Alex Guerrero. Yes, that Alex Guerrero<\/a> \u2014 Brady\u2019s longtime trainer and business partner. Guerrero, the Raiders\u2019 wellness coordinator, isn\u2019t just a confidant; he\u2019s the minority owner\u2019s eyes and ears in the building when Brady is working for Fox or back in Florida with his kids.<\/p>\n Brady hasn\u2019t been in the facility more than a handful of times this season, but he is involved every day, communicating with Guerrero, owner Mark Davis, GM John Spytek, coaches and players.<\/p>\n Inside the building, people believed Brady would lure the hottest coaching candidates on the market, like Johnson or Vrabel \u2014 names every owner coveted last offseason. They landed instead on 74-year-old Pete Carroll, who brought along his sons Nate and Brennan, both offensive assistants.<\/p>\n Players thought Brady would deliver Matthew Stafford after a long ski-slope conversation last offseason.<\/p>\n He missed.<\/p>\n Then Brady shot down Sam Darnold<\/a> as an option.<\/p>\n Another miss.<\/p>\n Brady pushed for offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to inject pace and creativity into the team\u2019s play calling. They made him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in football. He\u2019s no longer with the team<\/a>. The rookie class isn\u2019t carrying its weight. Nothing has landed the way it was sold.<\/p>\n \n This season hasn\u2019t gone as planned for Raiders owner Mark Davis and head coach Pete Carroll. (Chris Unger \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n So what exactly are the Raiders building?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the question bouncing around the facility and being whispered across the league. And the people who\u2019ve lived it aren\u2019t sugarcoating a thing. Former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, who felt the churn from the inside, unloaded on national TV<\/a> with a level of honesty you almost never hear from a former coach:<\/p>\n \u201cThey might need decades to fix this bad boy. I\u2019m just saying,\u201d Pierce said. \u201cOne and done, one and done, one and done \u2026 is there another coach gone? Another coordinator? Listen, there\u2019s gonna be something I talk about a little later where everybody\u2019s pointing fingers. But at some point, point there and the thumb points back.\u201d<\/p>\n One current Raiders staffer texted me: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to argue with him.\u201d<\/p>\n And the numbers don\u2019t lie. Since Mark Davis took over in 2011, the Raiders have cycled through seven full-time head coaches, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the most in the NFL. They are one of four teams since then without a playoff win, and they have the league\u2019s worst point differential over that stretch.<\/p>\n Many around the league \u2014 and even some inside the building \u2014 are wondering if Carroll will survive this season. If the Raiders do move on from him, this isn\u2019t a reset. It\u2019s a reset on the reset. Tom Brady, the player, needed a little time to learn the job. Tom Brady, the owner, may require the same grace.<\/p>\n The Duke guys keeping Daniel Jones protected<\/p>\n When Daniel Jones started taking first-team reps as a sophomore at Duke<\/a>, his teammates gave him a nickname.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Future.\u201d (Much better than Danny Dimes, right?)<\/p>\n With Jones now playing professionally for Indianapolis, where he\u2019s steadied the franchise, that nickname is starting to feel familiar. And here he is, trying to play through a fractured fibula<\/a> for the third straight week, this time against the Jaguars, who are tied with the Colts atop the AFC South.<\/p>\n To do it, Jones will again be wearing a custom hybrid thigh pad\/shin guard on his left leg. And those Duke teammates who once christened him \u201cThe Future?\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re the ones who built it.<\/p>\n About three weeks ago, when the Colts discovered the crack in Jones\u2019 leg, athletic trainer Stephen Galvan called Kevin Gehsmann, CEO of Protect3D, the North Carolina startup that builds custom 3D-printed braces and orthotics. Gehsmann also happens to be Jones\u2019 former Duke teammate and senior-year roommate.<\/p>\n Jones hopped on FaceTime with his old friend from the Indianapolis training room while the Colts used an app to scan his leg. The image traveled from Indy to Durham, where Protect3D printed the brace in under 48 hours.<\/p>\n Since it was a late-week order, delivery required a hand-delivered drop-off in Kansas City the night before the Colts\u2019 Week 12 matchup against the Chiefs. Jones made sure his old roommate got tickets to the game.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore the game, I had breakfast with his parents and brother and then sat with his brother, who was there with a couple of Duke basketball guys. We had a good time,\u201d Gehsmann told me over the phone Friday morning while headed to work.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 injury isn\u2019t so much about severe pain, but rather about the stability of the quarterback\u2019s leg, meaning that in a sport that emphasizes \u201cget-off\u201d speed, it\u2019s been harder for him to fully push off. Jones, whose well-earned reputation for toughness was known even during his New York Giants days, loves the feel of his new leg pad. And the Colts need this to be successful; they\u2019ve lost three of four games and are drifting down in the standings.<\/p>\n #Colts<\/a> QB Daniel Jones is wearing a 3D printed pad on his reportedly fractured fibula that was made by his #Duke<\/a> teammates:<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve built a pretty good business \u2026 They\u2019re smart guys, and (I\u2019m) lucky to have smart friends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have an app and you can scan it on a phone \u2026\u201d pic.twitter.com\/BPFfGMfufQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Gehsmann, a former linebacker, and fellow Blue Devils football alum Clark Bulleit, both engineering majors, first helped Jones with their tech when he was dealing with a collarbone injury in 2018.<\/p>\n Since then, the company has grown from a garage-and-engineering-lab experiment to an operation that outfits athletes across the NBA, MLS and even WWE, with most employees being former college athletes with engineering or medical degrees.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a full-circle moment to help Daniel again, and we went out of our way to do everything we could,\u201d said Gehsmann, who has continued to check in with Jones to make sure the pad is working out.<\/p>\n And yes, for the record: Jones was a relatively clean roommate \u2026 by college football standards, anyway.<\/p>\n Prove-it time for coaching candidates<\/p>\n Expect these assistant coaches to garner serious looks in the upcoming coaching cycle: Chiefs OC Matt Nagy, 49ers DC Robert Saleh, Colts DC Lou Anarumo, Broncos DC Vance Joseph, Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak, Rams DC Chris Shula, Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, Packers DC Jeff Hafley, Bills OC Joe Brady and Jags DC Anthony Campanile.<\/p>\n Since 2011, at least five head-coaching vacancies have popped up each cycle. Right now? Only two teams have openings: the Giants and Titans. That number will go up. There are no guarantees these jobs will come open, but many around the league are asking questions about the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals, in addition to the Raiders.<\/p>\n Coaches have about a month left, maybe through the playoffs, to prove they can handle the big seat.<\/p>\n Bonus coach coverage<\/p>\n Those candidates interviewing for head coaching jobs should have to audition with their postgame locker room speeches. I touched on team sayings and slogans in my last column<\/a>, but it got me thinking: How much are coaches actually thinking about these speeches, the ones plastered all over the internet after every win? New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn? Really good. \u201cWho wants to fly with the f\u2014\u2013 Jets.\u201d Dan Campbell? I\u2019ll run through a wall for ya\u2019 from my kitchen!<\/p>\n We write our own story pic.twitter.com\/J9DwriGSq8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But the undisputed champion of locker room celebrations? Ben Johnson, with or without his shirt<\/a>.<\/p>\n One head coach told me he even finds himself thinking about his potential postgame messaging on the drive to the game. \u201cHonestly, I never really thought this much about it, but now with all the cameras, it\u2019s no longer a private moment with my team. It\u2019s for the world, and I feel like it\u2019s getting competitive!\u201d<\/p>\n A sloppy situation in Buffalo<\/p>\n What\u2019s Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane going to do? His team claimed cornerback Darius Slay after he was waived by the Steelers, but the veteran then said he would not report to Buffalo<\/a> as he considered retirement.<\/p>\n The Bills retain Slay\u2019s playing rights after he was placed on the reserve\/retired list. As of now, his future remains uncertain.<\/p>\n In late February, while still under contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, Slay appeared on the \u201cSt. Brown Podcast\u201d and said that he wanted to play one more year and that \u201cthe two spots I would love to always be at is Philly or Detroit.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than a month later, Philadelphia released him and Pittsburgh quickly signed him. For now, I\u2019m told that Slay will remain on the sidelines. With the Bills facing the Eagles in Week 17, it will be interesting to see what Buffalo decides to do. Slay is repped by superagent Drew Rosenhaus, so Buffalo may want to play nice.<\/p>\n Before you go<\/p>\n \u2022 It wouldn\u2019t surprise a lot of league executives if the Cardinals decide to move on from 28-year-old Kyler Murray after this season. His contract complicates things because he\u2019s still owed $36.8 million in fully guaranteed salary and bonuses for 2026. But even before his current foot injury, things weren\u2019t clicking. The Cardinals could try to trade him or simply release him. Either way, after coach Jonathan Gannon said Murray is done for the season<\/a>, the sense is change is coming in the desert.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Eagles are trying to shake off that ugly Black Friday loss to the Bears. I\u2019m told this week, the team had a series of \u201cno-BS discussions\u201d ahead of a \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers. The message? Stop pointing fingers. \u201cWe are all done with the finger-pointing,\u201d one Philly player told me. \u201cIt\u2019s not just one thing that\u2019s in our way. It\u2019s not just Jalen (Hurts), it\u2019s not just Saquon (Barkley), it\u2019s not just (OC Kevin) Patullo, it\u2019s not just the offensive line. \u2026 It\u2019s a little bit of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Speaking of the Chargers, I\u2019m told QB Justin Herbert is trying to play despite undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left hand<\/a> on Monday. Given his track record of playing through injuries, it would not be surprising. Players I spoke to on the Chargers are expecting him to go.<\/p>\n \u2022 A battered Chiefs offensive line already without rookie left tackle Josh Simmons (who was placed on IR earlier this week) is expected to also be missing RG Trey Smith (ankle) and RT Jawaan Taylor (triceps, knee) when they face the Houston Texans on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Denver Broncos are the first team since the 1986 Giants to win four straight games by 3 points or less. I\u2019m sure Sean Payton sent that stat to Bill Parcells, the coach of the Super Bowl XXI champions and Payton\u2019s mentor. Those Giants finished that season 14-2 and beat, you guessed it \u2026 Denver in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n \u2022 Cleveland\u2019s Myles Garrett is 3.5 sacks shy of the single-season record, jointly held by Michael Strahan (2001) and T.J. Watt (2021). His next opponent? Titans rookie Cam Ward, who has taken more sacks than any other quarterback in the league (48). Keep in mind, Garrett already has two games this season in which he registered four-plus sacks.<\/p>\n \u2022 Finally, you might recall NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth raising some eyebrows with his distinctive pronunciation of Washington\u2019s backup quarterback\u2019s name last week. Turns out, he had it right.<\/p>\n \u201cMar-ee-o-ta,\u201d Marcus Mariota told reporters this week<\/a>, with a well-enunciated T. \u201cI think it\u2019s been said over the years like Mary-ota, which is incorrect. It\u2019s pronounced Mar-ee-o-ta.\u201d<\/p>\n But don\u2019t feel bad if you\u2019ve been saying it wrong. I got a text message this week from a loyal reader who happily told me he listens to WFAN, where hosts say they won\u2019t believe NFL rumors \u201cuntil I hear it from Diana Russini.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many of you, this reader spelled my first name incorrectly. Unlike many of you, this reader was my father<\/a>. Thanks for reading, Dad, and as always, thanks for spelling my name this way because you wanted me to be different.<\/p>\n It worked.<\/p>\n\n
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