The Patriots took the field on Thursday night in the chill of Foxboro on a short week after a grinding win in the heat and rain of Tampa Bay on Sunday, a wild swing, condition-wise, for a four-day stretch. But they came out with an efficient 27-14 win for their eighth straight victory, and while, for the most part, they emerged unscathed, key defensive lineman Milton Williams went down with an ankle injury early in the game.
Williams went to the blue tent for a medical check, then to the locker room, which raised concerns over the severity of injury. But he came back to the sideline and even re-entered the game.
Williams came out again after a short time, though, and coach Mike Vrabel decided to pull him. The Patriots then announced that Williams was downgraded to out for the game. The defense held up, in the end, only allowing the 14 points in the game and limited the Jets to 245 yards while forcing a key turnover on a Justin Fields fumble in the fourth quarter.
Milton Williams Might Have Stayed in a Closer Game
After the game, Vrabel was asked if perhaps the Patriots would have put Williams back on the field if the circumstances had been different. While Vrabel suggested that might have been the case, he also intimated that the injury was bad enough to warrant immediate treatment, even with the Patriots now off for 10 days.
“Maybe,” Vrabel said. “I made a decision that we felt like we should probably just start treating that thing and get ahead of it and see where he’s at here tomorrow, the next couple of days and try to weigh — again, he wanted to try to go.
“He’s out here standing with me when guys are coming in, and he’s excited for them, so I appreciate his leadership, but I just made a decision that I felt like was best for the team for his instance.”
Patriots Getting What Was Expected From Milton Williams
Williams, of course, was considered the top free agent on the market this past offseason, and the Patriots paid heavily to get him to leave the Eagles to come to New England–four years and $104 million. There is some worry that an increased workload with the Patriots could wear him down, but for the most part, Williams has held up.
The Athletic did a re-grading of the 2025 NFL offseason this week, and after originally giving the Williams deal a B grade, the site stuck with a B for Williams’ performance on the rebuilt Pats front.
The site wrote: “The Patriots gave Milton Williams a massive contract, making him the second-highest-paid interior defensive lineman. … It was always going to be difficult for Williams to fully live up to this contract, but he is nonetheless playing really solid football. He is very disruptive in one-on-one situations. He is second among interior defensive linemen in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.”
Patriots Atop the NFL
As for the win, the Patriots have now run their remarkable record to 9-2, which puts them atop not only the AFC East, but atop the the entire conference and the league in general, at least with Sunday’s games pending. For two days, at least, the Patriots are the best team in the NFL.
“It’s a testament to our players, our staff,” Vrabel said. “I thanked them so many times just being able to roll in there on Monday, have stuff prepared. You know, it’s hard to go on the road to Tampa, you know, and get your mind ready for that, but also in the back of your mind you’ve got a whole other box about what are you going to do against the Jets and being able to get on a plane, come home, get in late, but have that ready to go and have energy and a game plan ready for the players on Monday at 1 o’clock.”
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