3 Storylines To Know During Super Bowl Bye Week: Patch Patriots Roundup

Patriots Hosting A Super Bowl Send-off At Gillette Stadium

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Waiting the two weeks before a Super Bowl can be agonizing for fans who just want to fast forward to kickoff on Sunday, Feb. 8. However, there are still many important happenings that New England Patriot fans should be dialed into.

Here are three storylines to know about the bye week before Super Bowl LX.

Drake Maye’s Injury

Controversy around the star quarterback’s shoulder has heated up since the team took down the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game last Sunday. Maye began the day uncharacteristically missing throws to his receivers, and in the third quarter Maye landed awkwardly on his right shoulder during one of his many clutch quarterback runs. Since then, many have speculated that Maye may not be operating at 100 percent health, and the team’s Wednesday injury report confirmed those suspicions when aye was listed as “limited.” He was also limited on Thursday.
Maye missed practice entirely on Friday due to his shoulder ailment as well as what was described as an illness. However, Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel insisted that his signal caller would have participated if it were not for his newfound sickness. Maye emphasized earlier this week that he is doing well overall.

“I’m just trying to do whatever I can to get back to 100 percent,” Maye said in a press conference earlier this week. “I’m feeling good and looking forward to being ready to go.”

Uniform Superstition

The Patriots are the designated home team for their championship matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, as the AFC and NFC switch off each year. The home team gets first choice at what uniform they are choosing to wear, and New England has decided to roll with their still fairly-new all–white combination. The Pats are 5-0 this season donning this attire, including last week’s AFC Championship game. What else is notable is that the franchise is 4-2 all-time in Super Bowl games wearing white “away” jerseys, which includes its last three titles in 2014, 2016, and 2018. However from a negative superstitious aspect, the Pats fell 41-33 in Super Bowl LII the last time they voluntarily selected to wear their away uniforms in the big game.

“Guys like the white uniforms… Hope the tooth fairy comes tonight too, we'll be real excited” Vrabel said in response to being told his team is undefeated in its white uniforms this season during a pres conference on Friday.”

Bill Belichick Denied Hall of Fame Entry

With the new-era Patriots looking to establish themselves with a Super Bowl championship, the old regime made headlines this week when former head coach BillBelichick made headlines after its was reported that he was denied entry to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. It was reported that the six-time Super Bowl winner as a head coach and eight-time champion overall fell short of the 40 votes required from the 50-person voting committee required to be on the first ballot. It has been speculated that controversies such as 2007’s “spygate” and 2014’s “deflategate” may have been the reason why Belichick did not receive enough votes. However, voter and Kansas City Star columnist Vahe Gregorian said his decision had nothing to do with those controversies.

“All of that went into why I felt duty-bound to vote for the richly deserving seniors, who most likely won’t ever have a hearing again as more senior candidates enter the pool and fresh cases get made for others,” Gregorian wrote. “Meanwhile, Belichick is inevitable soon … as he should be. At the risk of contradicting my own vote, really, he shouldn’t even have to wait. I understand why people are offended that he isn’t going in the first moment he can.”

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and legends Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have both come out in support of Belichick, emphatically stating that their former coach should have been a unanimous inductee.

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• Patriots Hosting A Super Bowl Send-off At Gillette Stadium
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• Patriots Advance To Super Bowl LX With AFC Championship Victory Over Broncos