“He’s enabled us to take charge,” Fitzpatrick concluded. “He called out specific guys in the leadership meeting and he demanded more from us. He wanted us to communicate to the team the lessons that he wants communicated, and also what we wanted to communicate. Kind of like I said before, he’s been so adaptable in listening to us as players and to his coaches. He’s allowed us to take ownership.”

Patriots

The Patriots steamrolled the Giants to move to 11-2 behind a 143.1 passer rating for second-year QB Drake Maye. New England HC Mike Vrabel highlighted Maye’s composure and off-script plays, and also talked about the young signal caller’s upward trajectory every week. 

“He’s able to keep his composure, keep his eyes downfield,” Vrabel said, via Grant Gordon of NFL.com. “I thought some of the best plays were just the extensions, the scramble for a first down. To scramble and stay in bounds there late in the game, knowing the situation forces them to call a timeout. And then not throwing an incompletion there at the end of the game. Unselfishly, probably could have said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna try to throw a touchdown.’ And just go and slide and use the clock. Those are the things that probably don’t show up on the stat sheet. Being accurate downfield and being able to give Kayshon (Boutte) a real catchable ball in the end zone was nice, too.”

“I think he’s realizing what he can be and the impact that he makes on this offense being the conductor. He’s hard on himself. I think that he challenges himself, as well as his coaches. He means a great deal to this football team and just being able to not get rattled and escape pressure and find Rhamondre (Stevenson) or scramble. Then when we do have time and he sees a guy win and puts a ball in a great spot there for Kyle to make a huge play or Kayshon down there in the red zone. A lot of third-down conversions. So, again, very appreciative that he’s our quarterback.”

Patriots

Patriots return man Marcus Jones ran back three punts for 124 yards and a touchdown, making him the league’s all-time punt return leader in yards per return, a record previously held by George McAfee in the 1940s. Jones credited his dad’s early work with him and praised his blockers for being able to set a historic record. 

“Whenever my dad had me in a parking lot when I was like 4 years old, he used to throw the ball in the air and be like, ‘Track it.’ That was the first thing I thought about,” Jones said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “It’s a long journey with punt returns. Everyone doesn’t want to do it. I find a lot of joy when it comes down to it. At the end of the day, ever since I got in the league, I would say the guys that have been blocking for me, I commend them 24/7. Without them I would not be able to get any yards.”