Sunday Patriots Notes: Rhamondre Stevenson going from tragedy to Super Bowl

Led by NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel, the New England Patriots have a chance to put the finishing touches on what is already the greatest single-season turnaround in league history. One year after going 4-13 and firing their head coach, they are now on the brink of a championship.

Obviously, winning Super Bowl LX will not be an easy task. The Patriots are underdogs against a Seattle Seahawks team that is as compete as any in football, and showed some impressive form in both of its playoff games so far.

Naturally, our focus this week was on that contest and the opponent. As always before a game of this magnitude, however, a lot more is going on. So, to put our own finishing touches on the season, here are our final Sunday Patriots Notes from 2025.

Tragedy to Super Bowl

Coming off a challenging 2024 season, Rhamondre Stevenson’s uneven performance on the football field was put in perspective. In March, his father Robert unexpectedly passed away at the age of 54.

Luckily for Stevenson, he had a strong support system around him — one that included a coach he had only met briefly before.

Running backs coach Tony Dews, had arrived in New England less than two months earlier alongside Mike Vrabel. And while he was still getting settled in and weeks away from officially getting a chance to start working with players, he wasted no time supporting Stevenson: Dews booked a flight and traveled to Las Vegas for the funeral.

“It kind of did surprise me, but that just showed me how intentional they were. It’s not just football, but making sure I’m good mentally and as a person,” Stevenson recalled this week.

“He’s coming out there showing face in front of my family, in front of someone we loved so much. That could be discouraging, pulling up not really knowing the guy you’re going to the funeral to. I respect him for that and I appreciate him for that. He’s always been there for me, made sure I’m good mentally. He’s just a great figure to have.”

While Dews’ presence at his father’s funeral came as a surprise to Stevenson, it did not to the team’s head coach.

“We’re lucky to have people like Tony Dews who care deeply about not only his position but everybody on this football team, coaches and staff,” Mike Vrabel said. “Tony, he would have gone the second that I told him. It was just like, give him a little bit of time. Let’s just wait. And finally, it worked out for Tony to go out there and be with Rhamondre and his family. Obviously, very appreciative of Tony.”

For Stevenson, Dews showing a high level of support was welcome. It also set the tone for what would be a tough season that could still meet a rewarding end on Sunday in the Super Bowl.

“I just felt like that was the start of this season for me. Just how close-knit we are, I think that was the start of it,” he said. “Just knowing the people you work with have your back can give you so much confidence. And I think that’s what it did for me. On the field and off the field, just carrying myself a certain way and just showing up to work.”

“There are things that come up that you’re not really prepared for, and to have Rhamondre have something that traumatic happen to him and his family, and him not know us as people, was hard,” added Vrabel. “And to try to support somebody that — he doesn’t know where we’re coming from; he doesn’t know Mike Vrabel, he doesn’t know Tony Dews — other than taking some faith that we’re looking out for him as a person, and we’re looking out for him and his family, and what’s best and how they handle it, and try to do everything that we could to get him in a place that he could come, do his job, perform and glorify his dad. He’s done that every single day. I’m proud of him. I can’t imagine how that felt and what that still feels like.”

Stevenson is entering the Super Bowl as the Patriots’ top running back, and one of the most valuable players on their roster. As a result, he will get a chance to play for his first championship ring on Sunday.

He also will be playing for something else, though: his dad.

Hero brothers

Drake Maye was unsurprisingly in the limelight all week, but he frequently made sure to mention those that have helped him get to this point. Among them are his three older brothers.

“I think my hero would be probably my older brothers,” the second-year quarterback said on Super Bowl Opening Night. “Growing up with them, having somebody that’s close to me, kind of live their own lives and to just learn from them and be the youngest brother and have the opportunity to kind of have something to chase. I was chasing my older brothers. They all had a passion. I was just trying to find a passion for myself that I could follow and it happened to be football. And now I’m here.”

Unique list

The Patriots have fully embraced the “Road Warrior” mentality this season, and will use it one final time on Sunday. No player has been at the forefront more than wide receiver Mack Hollins, one of the team’s most unique characters.

And don’t just take it from us.

“He’s probably No. 1 on the unique list,” said fellow receiver Stefon Diggs. “He’s actually taught me a lot, like alternative medicines, things that he does, things that he eats, how he moves on the daily. He’s definitely one of my different teammates, a guy that does things differently. I don’t look at everybody the same. No one person is the same. Their personalities are different. I accept them all, especially considering he’s my teammate.

“I love him. He’s like a brother to me. He works extremely hard. Team first. And he does a lot of the dirty work that people don’t see, as far as the blocking and stuff like that. He can make plays at a high level. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mack, and he’s taught me a lot at this point.”

A notabler presence on and off the field, Hollins joined the Patriots alongside Diggs this offseason. It did not take long for him to earn his teammate’s respect.

“He does a great job,” Diggs said. “I’m a huge Mack fan. Shoutout to Mack Hollins.”“

Chasing history

Sunday’s Super Bowl will see two of the best return men in the NFL go at each other with a chance at some history. While there have been 325 touchdowns scored in the first 59 title games, none has come via a punt return.

Naturally, both New England’s Marcus Jones and Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed have an eye on the honor.

“It would mean a lot,” said Jones. “First off, we put in a lot of work when it comes down to getting to this moment and being able to be a part of this game. It means a lot. At the end of the day, we are trying to take advantage of the opportunity that we are getting. But when it comes down to being the one in history to do that, it would mean a lot but also would give recognition to the guys that block for me when it comes down to it.”

“I’m about super excited about that opportunity,” said Shaheed.

Bust in the past

One of the big storylines leading up to the Super Bowl was Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s career arc. A first-round bust with the New York Jets, he is now on to starting in the Super Bowl despite being on his fifth team in eight seasons.

The attention Darnold’s story has gotten is well earned, but the Patriots actually have a similar one in their own ranks: K’Lavon Chaisson.

A first-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020, he never quite lived up to the billing and was not retained after his rookie contract. He ended up spending one year in Las Vegas before joining the Patriots on a one-year free agency deal last March.

Now, he too is set to start in the Super Bowl in hopes of completing his career turnaround.

“That’s my dog right there,” offensive tackle Morgan Moses told Pats Pulpit’s Taylor Kyles about Chaisson. “We’ve played each other in multiple facets of our career, different teams and things like that. He’s always been a high-energy guy. When you have a guy that’s been drafted in the first round, there is always going to be high praise for him. Just seeing what he’s done here from Day 1, I remember thinking, ‘I got to get myself together.’

“Having that veteran presence that you can bounce ideas off of, obviously iron sharpens iron. You go against him every day, and that’s a guy that you don’t want to give up a sack to because he’s going to talk all practice. It’s a guy that you want to go up against every day because he’s going to make you better. I think the relationship between us is definitely showing that.”

Pre-game speech

Mike Vrabel will address the Patriots before Sunday’s kickoff, but he is planning to do so in a concise manner. What exactly he will say he did not share with the media, but there is one message that will come through: recognizing the hard work the team put in to get to this point in the first place.

“You look forward to him addressing the team because you know there’s substance behind whatever he’s saying,” said outside linebacker Harold Landry. “I don’t think there’s a coach who better prepares a team than he does, has the knowledge of the game he does and breaks it down to what the game is going to come down to, and what we have to do to succeed.”

Secret sponsor

While focused on quarterbacking the Patriots, Drake Maye quietly is also doing some charitable work. The 23-year-old is funding seven Folds of Honor college scholarships — one in each New England state plus another at his alma mater, North Carolina — in order to support the families of fallen or disabled military members and first responders.

Inspired by his grandfather, a U.S. Navy veteran, Maye partnered with Folds of Honor Boston early on his rookie season.

Local boy

One way or another, New England will get to celebrate a championship on Sunday. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, after all, was born in Boston and spent his early childhood in Massachusetts as a Patriots fan.

However, his allegiances on Sunday are obviously clear.

“I haven’t thought about it much,” he said. “It’s funny. When you’re a kid you think about how important that is. And obviously, I have a ton of respect for the New England community and all the Patriots fans out there. Shoot, I was one of them. But when you’re now in this role, you’re really just thinking through the lens of, ‘I’m responsible for our team and our community and the 12s, and what we can do every day, decision by decision, to put us in a position to go be the team we want to be and ultimately win a championship.

“That’s really where our focus is right now, but I have a lot of respect for that area of the country and I still have a lot of family that live up there.”

Future coaches

Speaking to Scott Zolak on an episode of Patriots All-Access, Mike Vrabel was asked which current Patriots player he believes would make some good coaches in the future. He ended up naming multiple of them.

“If you asked them now, they’d probably say none of them,” Vrabel said. “But I think Craig Woodson would be a good coach. I think that Marcus Jones would be a fantastic coach. Garrett Bradbury would be a good coach. [Brenden] Schooler would be a very good coach. [Stefon] Diggs, he’d be fun to play for. Kayshon Boutte got a great demeanor. I think Mack Hollins would be a really good coach if he chose to be; watched him in the offseason, the way he learned the system, the way he taught the system to the young guys — Mack would do a great job.”

Week ahead

Regardless of result, the Patriots’ 2025 season will come to an end on Sunday. That does not mean they are done putting in the work. One of the first orders of business will be returning to Foxborough, which they are expected to do on Monday.

Once there, they will go through their typical end-of-season routine: cleaning out the locker room, talking to the media for one final time. Then, the big question: will they be getting ready for vacation, or for a parade?

Source link