Getting back to the Patriot way, Lions & 49ers star recoveries, plus camera-shy Buffalo

Inside: The Patriots aim to make a quick return to the postseason, plus a health checkup on Aidan Hutchinson, Brandon Aiyuk, and a spotlight on the 2025 Bills.

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Back to the Patriot way The word in New England last offseason was change .

The goal? Establish a new culture, replacing the emotionless, do-your-job style of Bill Belichick with a more modern, player-friendly approach.

To begin the Jerod Mayo era, a Week 1 upset win over the heavily favored Bengals signaled that perhaps todays players respond best to positivity, to a coach willing to install a locker-room basketball hoop.

That victory concluded with a post-game Gatorade shower to celebrate Mayos first win as a head coach.

Advertisement There wasnt another opportunity to celebrate like that.

New England lost their next six games and finished 4-13 for the second consecutive year.

Its fair to wonder if any coach wouldve succeeded with that roster, but Mayos inversion of Belichicks approach best illustrated by Chad Graffs story about card games being prioritized over film seemed a poor fit for a franchise built by maintaining the highest standards.

It was clear the Patriots had lost their way.

Enter new head coach Mike Vrabel, tasked with returning New England to the road he helped pave.

The banners that hang in our stadium, theyre not going to help us win, Vrabel said during his introductory press conference.

But I think theyre a reminder of what it takes to win.

Is this a 2025 playoff team? Vrabel and de facto GM Eliot Wolf immediately started remaking the roster in the new coachs linebacker image.

They spent nearly $150 million in guarantees on improving their defense in the first wave of free agency and used an early draft pick on the offensive line.

But theres also been flash, including the signing of former Pro Bowl WR Stefon Diggs.

Now armed with the full schedule, The Athletic s Jeff Howe and Austin Mock ran 100,000 simulations to project 2025 .

(The results include the 49ers and Bengals replacing the Vikings and Steelers in the playoffs.) Of the eight teams with the worst records in 2024, Vrabels Patriots are projected to have the biggest turnaround.

Their 8.9 wins have them a hair behind the Chargers for the AFCs final playoff spot.

History suggests they might make it.

Each of the past 10 seasons, at least one team that finished with a bottom-eight record has made the playoffs in the next year.

Most of those playoff appearances required strong quarterback play .

Even the worst of the bunch got solid seasons in 2015, Kirk Cousins led the league in completion percentage for Washington.

Mitch Trubisky was a 2018 Pro Bowler for the Bears.

Even Marcus Mariota (Titans, 2017) and Blake Bortles (Jaguars, 2017) played well enough to let their talented teammates lead the way.

Advertisement This new generation of Patriots will go as far as sophomore QB Drake Maye can take them.

Thankfully, he now has help.

New England transformed last years 30th-ranked defense (by DVOA, per FTN Fantasy) into one of the leagues most improved units .

Their most glaring needs a No.

1 receiver and left tackle are being addressed by Diggs and Campbell.

Now, with nearly half a century (48 years, five months) separating the combined ages of Belichick and Tom Brady from current counterparts Vrabel and Maye, well quickly learn if this duo can restore New England to the winning course in a new way.

Recovery Report: How injured stars are trending Certain moments can devastate an NFL season.

Injuries top the list.

Entering Week 5, Aidan Hutchinsons 6.5 sacks had him on pace for 28, which wouldve smashed the NFL single-season record of 22.5.

He was arguably the leagues best defensive player, also leading in quarterback hits and pressures.

\ He then broke his tibia during the Lions next game, a 47-9 blowout win in Dallas.

It was a moment that reminded us how cruel the sport can be.

While Hutchinson planned for a Super Bowl reunion with his team, a 45-31 loss to Washington in the playoffs never gave them the chance.

And without Hutchinsons pressure, Detroit had to force the issue.

Even with the midseason trade for ZaDarius Smith, losing their star pass rusher forced them to go from blitzing at an average rate (29.4 percent, 13th in NFL) to being the leagues second-heaviest blitzing team (41.5 percent per dropback).

That put more of a burden on an already leaky pass secondary: !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); Its also fair to question how serious his idea of a Super Bowl return was, considering he only was fully cleared for football activities late last week.

I tagged in The Athletic s Lions beat reporter, Colton Pouncy , to learn how Hutchinson looks.

How has rehab gone for him? Do the Lions expect him active in Week 1? Colton: Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard told reporters recently that Hutchinson looks really good as he works his way back from a broken tibia and fibula that ended his 2024 season just five games in.

Sheppard said Hutchinson has been the most energetic guy on the field during offseason workouts and alluded to him starting to look like his old self.

Hell be given ample time to recover and the Lions wont rush him back, but the expectation is hell be good to go for training camp.

If he can return to form quickly, hell be right back in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year.

It was his to lose before his injury.

Advertisement A healthy Hutchinson is one of many positives in Coltons pre-OTA Lions report .

Positive news in Detroit? It must be a new year.

The 49ers will welcome a new year, given they shared a similar injury-plagued 2024.

How is their star receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, recovering from his October ACL tear? Lets ask 49ers beat reporter Matt Barrows.

This team was Super Bowl favorites before the injuries led to a 6-11 finish.

Are there any lingering health issues with Aiyuk? Matt: Aiyuks coming back from an Oct.

20 ACL tear, is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and Kyle Shanahan has said theres a chance Aiyuk will be ready for the start of the season.

Another scenario has Aiyuk beginning the season on PUP and missing the first four games.

If thats the case, the 49ers would lean on Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and perhaps second-year player Jacob Cowing.

One player to watch is fourth-round receiver Jordan Watkins, one of 11 rookies whom Matt spoke about with the teams director of player personnel and college scouting guru, Tariq Ahmad.

You can find his full report on the 49ers rookie class here .

Hard Knocks heading to Buffalo Its been a good offseason for Bills fans.

It projects to get better: For the first time in history, they can follow along on Hard Knocks.

Buffalos sneaky-strong offseason began with reasonable extensions for cornerstone players like MVP Josh Allen, now under contract through 2030, and DE Greg Rousseau (2029).

The core intact, they also addressed gaps: Star OT Dion Dawkins also helped usher in a new era for offensive linemen, as he is credited with launching the campaign that led to the new Protector of the Year Award , which will be given to the leagues best offensive lineman each season.

Whats next for the Bills? They are the only team favored in every game this upcoming season, notably over the Ravens (-1.5) in Week 1 and Chiefs (-2.5) in Week 9.

This spotlight led to their selection for Hard Knocks, for which Tim Graham explains the Bills will begrudgingly allow the invasive cameras .

But hey, at least it cant go worse than the Giants experience last year.

The NFL Films team decided to run that one back, putting the Giants under the spotlight for this years in-season version covering the NFC East.

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(Photo: Billie Weiss, Maddie Meyer / Getty Images).

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