The New England Patriots haven’t shied away from finding bulletin board material over the last few seasons. For Week 9, they won’t have to look far. After Baltimore tight end Nick Boyle’s comments on Wednesday, the Ravens are officially on the bulletin board.
“We’ll see how good they are once we play them,” Boyle said of New England’s defense, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. “I don’t think they’ve seen anyone like our offense or like Lamar [Jackson]. They’re a good team and we’ll need to bring our ‘A’ game.”
It doesn’t take much to irk the Patriots. These comments may seem harmless, but New England will almost definitely find a way to use them as motivation.
Tom Brady famously said “everyone things we (expletive)” a few months before winning Super Bowl LIII. (No one thought they stunk at that time.) And this season, the Patriots have taken offense to remarks from the Bills and Jets. Quarterback Sam Darnold merely said he intended to “find their weakness,” which is basically the only way for a team to win a game. They need to exploit their opponent’s weaknesses. But the Patriots saw the comments as a jab at their quality of play. They’ll surely see Boyle’s remarks as an affront, which will likely motivate them for what should already be the best game of the week.
