Vrabel Didn't Defend Chism, He Let the Math Do It
CJ Gardner-Johnson called the guy who beat him a practice squad player. Chism's never been near one, and Mike Vrabel made sure everyone knew it.
New England Patriots
Players We Cover
Latest Coverage
Travis Hunter's First Interception Buried the Patriots
Travis Hunter picked off Drake Maye for his first career interception as Jacksonville blew out New England 35-6, and the two-way experiment just paid off.
Vikings-Bears Leads Three Soggy NFL Week 2 Games
Vikings-Bears, Packers-Jets, and Steelers-Patriots all kick off Sunday into wind and rain. Three passing showcases, one forecast working against all of them.
Ed Sheeran's Entire Opening Lineup Just Quit on Him
Tepper, Blank, and Lurie backed Kraft on pulling Macklemore. Every opener Ed Sheeran had left the tour rather than keep playing it. That's the real story.
Macklemore Says Kraft Got Him Blacklisted From Stadiums
Macklemore says Robert Kraft threatened Ed Sheeran's Gillette access unless he was dropped from the tour. Unconfirmed, but the mechanism checks out.
A.J. Brown's Patriots Tenure Hits IR After Two Games
A.J. Brown just landed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain, and yes, it's the same A.J. Brown the Patriots traded two picks for in June.
The Patriots Let AJ Brown Limp When They Had a Cart
A sports-medicine doctor is asking why the Patriots let AJ Brown limp to the tunnel instead of using a cart on a possible high ankle sprain.
Maye Threw Three Picks and I Loved Every One
Drake Maye threw three picks - two in the fourth quarter - as the Patriots' $68 million receiver caught nothing in a 13-10 loss to the defending champs.
Drake Maye's Turnover Math Says This Isn't New
Drake Maye's three picks against Seattle weren't a one-off. He has 11 turnovers in his last five games, and the sample says more than a bad night.
Drew Lock Just Answered Seattle's Only Real Question
Sam Darnold's hip injury looked like a season-defining disaster in the first quarter. By the fourth, Drew Lock had answered the only question that mattered.
The Sportsbooks Aren't Advertising the NFL Anymore
DraftKings is DMing tickets like a streamer. A rando's +1058 parlay is pulling real engagement. Tonight's kickoff has two broadcasts, one with players.
The Only Thing Russini Has Left to Protect
Dianna Russini says she'll tell her side of the Vrabel story once she has a new job -- but The Athletic already cleared her reporting months ago.
Patriots-Seahawks: Sharps Are Fading Seattle -3.5
Seattle opened -5.5 and now sits at -3.5. The public keeps piling onto the champs anyway. Somebody with real money disagrees with all of them.
Seahawks Making the Patriots Watch the Banner Go Up Is Diabolical
The NFL didn't have to open the season with Seattle raising its Super Bowl banner in the Patriots' faces. It chose to, and that's the whole point.
Gonzalez Broke Witherspoon's Record. It Won't Last.
Christian Gonzalez's $135M deal broke Devon Witherspoon's record before it turned a month old. The data says the corner market isn't done resetting.
The Patriots Paid Gonzalez With 48 Hours to Spare
Christian Gonzalez is the NFL's highest-paid cornerback now, and the Patriots let it get uncomfortably close to kickoff to make it happen anyway.
The NFL's Week 1 Repeat Offenders Are Back
A viral Novig graphic on NFL Week 1 win totals says less about randomness and more about which franchises never fix their September problem.
TreVeyon Henderson Hasn't Practiced in Two Weeks
TreVeyon Henderson hasn't practiced in two weeks, and the Patriots open the season Wednesday in Seattle with zero clarity on their backfield plan.
This Is the Last Sunday We'll Ever Not Have Football
The NFL, Underdog, and half of football Twitter posted matching last-Sunday-without-football countdowns today, and nobody coordinated a thing.
The Hall of Fame Fixed Everything Except Belichick
The Hall of Fame just cut its voting panel almost in half and killed the senior category. The timing, one cycle after Bill Belichick's snub, isn't a coincidence.
The Athletic Cleared Russini's Copy. Not the Relationship.
The Athletic's five-month review cleared Dianna Russini's reporting of every inaccuracy -- and still ruled her Vrabel relationship a clear standards violation.
Why the Champs' Big Night Got Bumped to Wednesday
Seahawks-Patriots is only the third Week 1 Super Bowl rematch ever. But the real story is why the NFL moved the champs' night off its usual slot.
Eagles Male Cheerleaders: Six Quiet Years, One Loud Week
The Eagles have run male cheerleaders since 2019 without controversy. Three teams went viral the same week in 2026, and that timing is not a coincidence.
Chargers -10.5 Is a Bigger Story Than the Rematch
The Chargers are 10.5-point Week 1 favorites over the Cardinals, a 7-point gap from the Seahawks' number in a Super Bowl rematch. That gap is the story.
Logan Ryan's Real Financial Edge Wasn't Discipline
Logan Ryan says he never touched his NFL salary. The real outlier in his story isn't the discipline — it's the eleven years he had to practice it.
Drake Maye's No. 11 Ranking Says the Quiet Part
Drake Maye was the runner-up MVP and won New England's first AFC East title since 2019. His peers still rank him 11th -- just outside the top 10.
Bernie Sanders Just Put a Number on Your StubHub Rage
Bernie Sanders' tweet on billionaire NFL, NBA and MLB owners is going viral, but it's not new. It's the third act in a pattern that started with the Dodgers.
A.J. Brown Froze Out Hurts. Then They Hugged It Out.
A.J. Brown wouldn't even look at Jalen Hurts on day one. By day two they hugged — right after Brown made the Eagles pay for letting him go.
The NFL Fought to Bury These NFLPA Report Cards
The NFL took its own players' union to a grievance panel to keep these report cards sealed, won the case, and watched them leak anyway two weeks later.
Sauce Gardner Deleted the Tweet. That's the Story.
Sauce Gardner got beat clean by A.J. Brown on a one-on-one rep at Patriots-Colts camp, then deleted the tweet about it. That delete is the real story.
Belichick and Kraft Got Snubbed Together
Belichick and Kraft both missed the same Hall of Fame class four days before Canton. Brady and Parcells aren't buying the résumé argument, and neither are we.
Kraft Went Public on Gonzalez's Deal. That's the Tell.
Robert Kraft told reporters the Patriots offered Christian Gonzalez the richest CB contract ever, unsigned, in front of cameras. That's nerves, not hype.
Maye Had 31 TDs With a 31st-Ranked WR Corps
Drake Maye was MVP runner-up with the worst WR corps in the league. Now he has AJ Brown. The math isn't complicated, but what it means for defenses is.
The Patriots Got Their Man, Seven Years Late
A.J. Brown spent seven years getting to his childhood team. He's got Vrabel back, Drake Maye throwing darts, and a Man Cave rug that predates the AI controversy. Better late than never.
AJ Brown Is in New England. Drake Maye Is 23. The Patriots Are Not Playing Around.
The Patriots traded for AJ Brown to arm Drake Maye in Year 3. The Bears traded DJ Moore away from Caleb Williams. Two franchises, one test, opposite answers.
Stefon Diggs' Cardi B Non-Answer Says Everything
Stefon Diggs gave TMZ absolutely nothing on Cardi B. For a free agent with zero NFL leverage, calculated silence is doing more work than his agent.
AJ Brown to Patriots: Eagles Fans Got a Spreadsheet
The Eagles waited for June 1 to trade AJ Brown for cap savings. Howie Roseman turned a top-10 WR into a spreadsheet win. The Patriots got the player. Philly got math.
The AJ Brown Trade Rumors Hit Different Today
AJ Brown trade to the Patriots has conflicting reports swirling with a June 1 deadline looming. Here's what's confirmed, what's noise, and why it matters now.
The Athletic Got What It Wanted. Dianna Russini Didn't.
Dianna Russini is out at The Athletic. Mike Vrabel still has his job. The institution quietly made its choice — and it wasn't the woman who broke the news.