Patriots notes, quotes, and anecdotes: Resetting New England’s WR room following release of JuJu Smith-Schuster

Good morning, happy Sunday, and welcome back into another edition of ‘Patriots notes, quotes, & anecdotes’. We’re back with another column hitting on all of the happenings surrounding the New England Patriots.

Here we go:

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— Resetting the Patriots’ pass catchers.

The Patriots made a roster move on Friday that many predicted would happen eventually, but perhaps not this fast. Following their 17-3 preseason win over the Panthers, New England released veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Their roster now sits at 89 players, and their receiver room at 11.

Smith-Schuster’s tenure in Foxborough was a failure — to stay the least. After signing a three-year deal worth upwards of $33 million last March as a de facto replacement for Jakobi Meyers (who New England refused to pay a similar contact), he finished the 2023 season with just 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown before being placed on injured reserve on December 30. For context: Meyers finished 2023 with 71 catches for 807 yards and 8 TD (and is still under contract with Vegas).

It was injuries and ultimately an inability to play like he used to that plagued Smith-Schuster’s time in New England. He could no longer get out of breaks, separate, or run after the catch like he used to during his days in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. The Patriots will now carry a dead cap hit of $9.6 million for the 27-year-old.

So what’s next for the room? Well, after a failed attempt at trading for and subsequently signing 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, the Patriots will turn to their young guys — something ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported will now become their focus.

New England drafted Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker this past April and will look to pair their talents on the outside with shift slot star DeMario Douglas. They also have young veterans Kayshon Boutte, Jalen Reagor, and  Tyquan Thornton on the roster who will vy for time in the rotation. Don’t forget K.J. Osborn and Kendrick Bourne, either.

The way things were shaping up, Smith-Schuster’s departure was inevitable and, if anything, speeds up the process while allowing the rest of the room to enter a true depth competition prior to cutdown day in late August.

— JuJu shouts out Pats fans in farewell post.

Upon his release from the team, JuJu Smith-Schuster went to his Instagram story to bid farewell to his

“Thank you Pats fans!” he wrote. “Excited for the next chapter”

Say what you will about JuJu and his time with New England, but he was and always has been a stand-up guy with the media and the fans. He showed that one last time on his way out the door.

— While Drake Maye sits, other 2024 quarterback classmates shine.

The Patriots made another interesting move this week when, during their preseason game versus the Panthers, they decided to play quarterback Drake Maye for just one drive, totaling seven plays.

Maye, a rookie that New England drafted No. 3 overall back in April, has been firmly cemented behind veteran Jacoby Brissett and ahead of Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III on the depth chart — and is seen by many on the outside looking in as a project (aka, someone who could use some live preseason reps to get his NFL feet wet). Despite this, Jerod Mayo told the media after Thursday’s game that this was “always the plan.”

“That was always the plan,” said the first-time head coach. “The plan was to get him in there for one series, to get Jacoby in there for one series, and then really turn it into the Zappe show and then the Joe show. That was the plan going in.”

He later added that he expects his rookie QB to “get more reps than he did in the first game against the Eagles [next Thursday].”

While it’s certainly the Patriots’ right, and not necessarily a good or a bad thing, to have played Maye so little on Thursday night, the rest of his rookie QB counterparts did play this weekend — and shined. Here’s how they all faired:

Caleb Williams (No. 1 overall): 4 of 7, 95 yards, 101.8 passer rating

Jayden Daniels (No. 2 overall): 2 of 3, 45 yards, 1 rushing TD, 109.7 passer rating

Michael Penix Jr. (No. 8 overall): 9 of 16, 104 yards, 76 passer rating

J.J. McCarthy (No. 11 overall): 11 of 17, 188 yards, 2 TD, 116.8 passer rating

Does any of this really matter? Absolutely not. But fair or not, Maye will be compared next to these guys for the remainder of his career. Might as well start early.

— Roster moves

The Patriots made the following transactions this past week:

• Placed Jake Andrews on injured reserve
• Signed LS Tucker Addington
• Released WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

–Gronkowski speaks on QBs, Bailey Zappe.

Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is one of many media folks speaking out about how the Patriots handled their quarterbacks last week and the lack of playing time for Drake Maye:

“Bailey Zappe needs to be freed,” he told Fox Sports 1’s First Things First on Friday. “They either gotta let him go or they gotta trade him, because he’s taking away reps from Drake Maye — he’s taking away from Joe Milton. Bailey Zappe’s not gonna be on that team by the end of training camp. Bailey Zappe needs to be freed so he can go to another team and show what he has.”

— Boos rain on Bailey Zappe’s preseason parade.

Speaking of Zappe, he played a majority of New England’s offensive snaps on Thursday night — and made the most out of them. Despite being booed by the Gillette Stadium crowd following the quick hook of Maye, the third-year QB completed 12 of his 20 attempts for 108 yards and led them to a touchdown on his second drive.

Zappe, the recipient of plenty cheers from the Foxborough faithful during his time as a backup to Mac Jones, spoke about the different tone following the game:

“Yeah, it was the opposite of what it’s been the last two years,” he remarked with a smile. “When it was happening the opposite way it really didn’t bother me and when it’s happening this way it didn’t bother me at all either. I mean we drove down and scored, so. I think they were cheering after that so that’s really all you can do as a quarterback is go score and everybody’s happy.”

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Thanks for reading! We’ll talk to ya next week.

Follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!