The Patriots Are Back Sunday: What To Know About The 2021 Season

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Professional football returns after the Labor Day weekend, with all 32 National Football League teams, including the New England Patriots, kicking off play the week of Sept. 9-12.

The Patriots will play their season opener on Sept. 12 at home against the Miami Dolphins. But the 4:24 p.m., kick off means more than a new season. It's a new era for New England, with rookie quarterback Mac Jones making his debut as an NFL starter.

Jones beat out last year's starter and former NFL MVP Cam Newton for the starting job. Newton was released after the final preseason game, leaving the rookie as the one Head Coach Bill Belichick hopes will lead the Patriots back to the playoffs in the post Tom Brady era.

"I have nothing but positive thoughts and feelings for Cam," Belichick said Tuesday in a radio interview on WEEI's the Greg Hill Show. "He came in here, he worked hard. He gave us everything we had. Right now, our future is going to be Mac at quarterback, and that is where we're going to go."

The other main highlight of the schedule is Brady's return to Gillette Stadium in Week 4, when the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to Foxborough for a Sunday night prime time game on Oct. 4. It will most certainly be the 7-time Lombardi winner's final game at Foxborough and should bring out a lot of competitiveness between Belichick and Brady, as they both try to add to their own NFL legacies.

Fans return to Gillette Stadium

Outside of Jones being in the huddle, there are two other huge changes for the Patriots this year. For one, the schedule is now 17 games, rather than the 16 it has been since 1978. Also, fans can once again attend games. Last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, fans couldn't attend games at Gillette, but the stadium is once again open to full capacity.

Some teams throughout the league have made proof of vaccination or a negative test required for fans to attend games. The Patriots have yet to make that a requirement, so it will be worth monitoring if anything changes over the next few months.

The Patriots full schedule is included below:

• Week 1: 4:25 p.m, Sept. 12, vs. Miami Dolphins
• Week 2: 1 p.m., Sept. 19, at New York Jets
• Week 3: 1 p.m., Sept. 26, vs. New Orleans Saints
• Week 4: 8:20 p.m., Oct. 3, vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Week 5: 1 p.m., Oct. 10, at Houston Texans
• Week 6: 4:25 p.m., Oct. 17, vs. Dallas Cowboys
• Week 7: 1 p.m., Oct. 24, vs. New York Jets
• Week 8: 4:05 p.m., Oct. 31, at Los Angeles Chargers
• Week 9: 1 p.m., Nov. 7, at Carolina Panthers
• Week 10: 1 p.m., Nov. 14, vs. Cleveland Browns
• Week 11: 8:20 p.m., Nov. 18, at Atlanta Falcons
• Week 12: 1 p.m., Nov. 28, vs. Tennessee Titans
• Week 13: 8:15 p.m., Dec. 6, at Buffalo Bills
• Week 14: Bye week
• Week 15: TBD, Dec. 19, at Indianapolis Colts
• Week 16: 1 p.m., Dec. 26, vs. Buffalo Bills
• Week 17: 1 p.m, Jan. 2, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 18: 1 p.m., Jan. 9 at Miami Dolphins