FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Texans-like turnaround? First-year head coach Jerod Mayo was at the grocery store recently when a fan came up to him with a message of support. Kind of.
Summing up the challenge Mayo faces in his role, the fan said: “Houston did it!”
Mayo told that story to a group of season-ticket members last weekend, and then a few days later, the Texans were creating more buzz by acquiring receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade with the Bills.
The Texans, having solidified the quarterback position with C.J. Stroud as the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft, went 10-7 and won the AFC South last season.
But there were two lean seasons before that — 4-13 in 2021 under coach David Culley and 3-13-1 in 2022 under coach Lovie Smith. As a result, the job security and influence of former Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, Houston’s general manager, was viewed by some as shaky when the franchise hired former Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans as head coach last offseason.
“Remember, Caserio had been building that team for [two] years before they got C.J. Stroud in that position,” he said. “So when you look at our team — I’m not asking for patience, but I kind of am. It’s a process..”
The Patriots have eight picks in the draft as of now, headlined by No. 3 and then high selections in the second (No. 34), third (No. 68) and fourth (No. 103) rounds.
Many assume they’ll use the top pick on a quarterback. They had North Carolina’s Drake Maye in for a visit Friday, LSU’s Jayden Daniels is scheduled to be in town Tuesday and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy is expected to follow him the next week.
