Mike Reiss
Rich Cimini
Rich Cimini
ESPN Staff Writer
Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson has made the most of his opportunity, filling in for injured starter Rhamondre Stevenson, who has missed the past three games because of a toe injury. Henderson’s two touchdown runs and one receiving touchdown helped the Patriots to a 27-14 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday night, sparking a question on whether he might assume a larger role when Stevenson returns.
The Patriots improved to 9-2 with the win, the best record in the NFL, and won their eighth in a row.
Henderson became the second rookie in Patriots history to have multiple rushing touchdowns in consecutive games, joining Curtis Martin, who had a three-game streak and two-game streak in 1995.
Henderson also became the first rookie in Patriots history with five touchdowns in a two-game span. He is the third rookie in Patriots history with three touchdowns in a game (including playoffs), joining tight end Rob Gronkowski (2010) and running back Sony Michel (2018).
Henderson, the 38th pick out of Ohio State, has seen his playing time more than double during the past three weeks with Stevenson out. Henderson played 51 snaps in each of the two games leading up to Thursday night, and, once again, he played a majority of the snaps in the win over the Jets.
Here are the most important things to know from Thursday night for both teams:
What to make of the QB performance: Drake Maye settled into a rhythm early, completing his first 11 passes, the longest streak to start a game in his career. Maye, who was in complete command, was effective against the blitz, finishing the first half 5-of-5 for 41 yards and 3 first downs. Maye entered the game completing 69.1% of his passes against the blitz, ranking third in the NFL. He finished the game 25-of-34 for 281 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked only once.
Trend to watch: The Patriots’ defense gave up an opening-drive touchdown for the sixth time this season, tying for the most in the NFL. In practice, coach Mike Vrabel has had assistant coach Ben McAdoo put together an offensive script as if he were the opposing offensive coordinator, attempting to prepare the defense for opening drives in games. But the defense isn’t consistently producing the desired results.
Stat to know: The last time the Patriots won eight games in a row was 2019, when they opened the season 8-0. — Mike Reiss
Next game: at Cincinnati Bengals (1 p.m. ET, Nov. 23)
With a war chest of premium draft picks from blockbuster trades ahead of last week’s deadline, the Jets can find their quarterback of the future in 2026 or 2027. Or so they hope. In the meantime, they must endure seven more games of Justin Fields. Or Tyrod Taylor.
Does it matter?
Coach Aaron Glenn’s quarterback games, where he refuses each week to name his starter until game day, can’t camouflage the obvious: Week after week, the Jets’ passing attack is noncompetitive.
Playing without wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who was placed on injured reserve Thursday because of a knee injury, Fields passed for only 116 yards on 15-for-26 efficiency. He avoided his fifth game with fewer than 100 passing yards thanks to late completions in garbage time. You can’t win in the NFL with only three pass completions longer than 9 air yards, and the Patriots softened their coverage late in the game.
The Jets looked great on their opening possession, a run-heavy drive that covered 72 yards for a touchdown, but they hit a prolonged cold spell once the Patriots adjusted. The Jets needed Fields to produce via the air, and he didn’t, except for a 22-yard touchdown to John Metchie III late in the third quarter.
Now, Glenn has a QB decision: Is it time to bench Fields?
Trend to watch: It was a rough debut for wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. Acquired from the Indianapolis Colts in the Sauce Gardner trade, Mitchell dropped two passes. He had a step on Christian Gonzalez on a well-thrown deep ball but couldn’t hold on. The Jets’ passing attack isn’t good enough to overcome killer mistakes. Nevertheless, you will see a lot of Mitchell for the remainder of the season.
Biggest hole in the game plan: The Jets blitzed less than usual, putting a lot of pressure on the patchwork secondary. It wasn’t pretty, as Maye passed for 284 yards and a touchdown. The Jets miss Gardner. His replacement, rookie Azareye’h Thomas (concussion), didn’t play, forcing third-stringer Qwan’tez Stiggers into the lineup. Brandon Stephens (costly penalty, one TD allowed) and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (three penalties) both had rough nights.
Most surprising performance: Will McDonald IV, coming off a four-sack game, was held to no sacks and one quarterback pressure. He was dealing with a quad injury from last week.
Stat to know: Once again, the Jets failed to intercept a pass. That makes 10 straight games without an interception, and that ties the longest such streak in NFL history. The last team not to intercept an opponent’s pass in its first 10 games of a season was the 2017 Raiders. — Rich Cimini
Next game: at Baltimore Ravens (1 p.m. ET, Nov. 23)
