Sunday Patriots Notes: Elijah Ponder is a star in the making

The New England Patriots are gearing up for their second division game of the. season, hosting the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The game will be an opportunity for Mike Vrabel’s team to improve to 4-2 on the season, win a third straight game, and move to 2-0 against the AFC East this year.

Most of our attention this week naturally was on that game. Of course, there is a lot more to talk about from Week 6, so let’s clean out the notebook.

Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.

Elijah Ponder, star in the making

Speaking to the media last summer, Patriots outside linebackers coach Mike Smith predicted a “bright future” for then-undrafted free agent Elijah Ponder and named him “probably one of the best free agent pickups I’ve ever seen.” The praise was significant and somewhat surprising, but five games into Ponder’s second season one can safely say that it was not unwarranted either.

Already coming off a promising rookie campaign, the 24-year-old is in the process of taking a serious sophomore leap. He is currently leading the Patriots with 4.5 sacks and 18 total quarterback pressures, has forced a fumble, recovered two others, and returned one of those recoveries for a 19-yard touchdown.

Ponder is a key reason why New England’s defensive edge is looking a lot better than its uncertain preseason projection.

“He’s a very humble young man,” said defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr. “He has a great work ethic. He’s a professional. He just puts in the work day in and day out, and he gets to see the fruits of his labor. It just so happens right now he’s getting some good action, and hopefully that continues.”

A two-star outside linebacker recruit out of Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, CA, Ponder spent his college career at Cal Poly. In five seasons with the Mustangs, he saw action in 47 games and registered 26.5 sacks and 43.5 tackles for loss. He also was named All-Big Sky in all four of his non-redshirt campaigns including as a first-team selection in both 2023 and 2024.

However, his college success and impressive athletic skill — 9.70 Relative Athletic Score — he went unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Patriots subsequently picked him up, and it did not take him long to make an impact.

After making the 53-man roster, he went on to appear in 19 games as a rookie and pick up four sacks and three fumble recoveries.

“Great story,” said Kuhr. “You just love to see somebody who puts in the work. Obviously, he’s a quiet guy, but he keeps his head down, goes to work, just constantly improves, asks questions. ‘Hey Ponder, we need you to do this.’ ‘Okay,’ without any doubt, any question. ‘Hey, we need you to rush this side; Hey, we need you to rush outside; Hey, we need you to drop; Hey, we need you to do this; Hey, we need you to go with this guy.’ No questions asked and just getting the production that it is right now. As a coach, you love to see that.”

Now in his second season, Ponder keeps adding chapters to the story and developing into a crucial part of New England’s defensive operation: his 221 snaps on that side of the ball are currently ranked fifth among the team. In addition, he also ranks ninth with 51 special teams snaps distributed among four units.

“Doing the same thing every day,” said Smith when asked about the root of Ponder’s development this week. “Staying on his routine. Working. It’s a big thing, and he’s at a young age learned this: stay on a routine, what works. His film study early in the morning, even his nutrition, weight room. When you’re all-in, you have to be all-in on everything. It can’t be just practice, we’ll be all-in and then maybe the weight room. When you’re all-in, you have to be all-in at all — practice, meetings, taking care of your body, and that’s what he does. He’s just very consistent, and just a very reliable person.”

On Sunday against the Jets, Ponder will have a chance to add to his already impressive 2026 résumé. Entering the game with at least one half-sack in four straight contests, he has a chance to become the first Patriot since Joshua Uche in 2022 to do so in at least five consecutive contests.

But even if he doesn’t, Ponder has already shown that he not just belongs in the league and New England’s depth rotation. And not just that: he has shown that he is a star in the making.

Practice squad safety making a name for himself

The Patriots elevated one player from the practice squad for their game against the Jets. For the second time in two weeks, safety Elliott Davison is in line to see some game action.

For Zak Kuhr, the opportunity is a result of his work behind the scenes.

“He’s shown some stuff on the show team,” Kuhr explained. “Those are valuable reps. He’s going against Drake [Maye] and the boys. He’s getting some good reps against some receivers, playing some corner, playing some safety, playing whatever. And plus, with him — same thing we talked about with Ponder a little bit — no questions asked. He just wants the opportunity and made the most of it.”

An undrafted rookie out of UTSA last year, Davison spent his rookie campaign on the Saints’ practice squad without seeing any game action. He was released by the team in late August and subsequently picked up by the Patriots.

Davison played 29 combined defensive and special teams snaps in his professional debut last week, registering a pass breakup along the way.

Will Campbell ‘super proud’ of Caleb Lomu

Will Campbell starting Sunday’s game against the New York Jets is not out of the realm of possibility. If he should be out or unable to take a full workload, though, first-round rookie Caleb Lomu appears ready to step in and hold his own. That, at least, is what Campbell himself believes.

The second-year left tackle was replaced by his young teammate down the stretch versus the Raiders last Sunday, and was full of praise for him.

“Super proud of the way he came out there and played,” said Campbell. “I think he’s going to continue to do that whenever he gets his opportunity. I was super proud of him, super excited for the way that he went out there and just competed and battled.”

Brenden Schooler’s coaching qualitie

While all eyes will be on A.J. Brown on Sunday, the Patriots actually saw their first player return off an injury list last week — albeit without the same fanfare. Still, as special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer explained, getting Brenden Schooler back from the non-football injury list is a major boost to his unit.

“Always good to have him back because he’s just a good voice of reason,” said Springer. “He’s another coach on the field. If he sees things he thinks he can attack or we can do, he’ll aways mention it to me in-game, during the week. And I think guys around him feed off his energy and the way he plays on the field.”

Josh McDaniels raves about Rhamondre Stevenson

Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble on the second touch of his NFL career back in 2021, and ever since then fans have seemingly been ambivalent about the Oklahoma product. But while fumbles continued to haunt him throughout his career — he has 18 of them —his ability to carry the football and play every role the Patriots are asking him to have allowed him to not just keep a job but remain the organization’s RB1 through significant personnel changes.

One of those changes was Josh McDaniels leaving and returning three years later. And like his role as offensive coordinator, his admiration for Stevenson also has not changed.

He made it clear when asked about the 28-year-old this week.

“He’s somebody that I feel very strongly about and have since we drafted him,” McDaniels said. “He’s a great example for everybody, a great example for the young players. He’s been that way for a long time. Great human being. High character. Does everything that you ask him to do. He just wants to win. Very unselfish. If you need him to carry it 24 times, he’ll carry it 24 times; if you need him to block 16 blitzes, he’ll block 16 blitzes; if you need him to catch 10 passes, he’ll catch 10 passes. I’m sure he’ll be the first one to tell you, he loves to do everything that you want him to do and that he can do.

“But whatever we ask him to do that will help us win the game is what he’s going to embrace and do with a great attitude, with a great mindset. He’s out there every day. He practices hard. He knows what to do. He’s very dependable. I think everybody in our offensive unit trusts him completely to do anything we ask him to do.”

Drake Maye’s recent turnaround, explained

New England’s starting quarterback did not play at his MVP-caliber level the first three weeks of the season. In the two games since, however, he has flipped the switch and again started looking like one of the best quarterbacks in football.

What’s the reason for this turnaround? According to Josh McDaniels, it mostly has to do with time, comfort and decision-making.

“He’s making progress every week, and I give him a lot of credit,” he said. “Didn’t certainly start the way we wanted — none of us did — but he never changed one thing. Just continued to work as hard as he’s been working. You couldn’t work harder, so that didn’t have to change. I think he’s acclimating to some different people. He’s getting more comfortable within that group. And you see him, he’s making good decisions. He’s being accurate with the football; most importantly, took care of the football. All good steps.”

Fourth-down a key to New England’s success

The Patriots offense faced two fourth downs against the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday, and it managed to move the chains both times. As a result, the unit now stands and 7-of-8 in those situations this year, ranking second in the league behind only the 3-for-3 Minnesota Vikings.

As Pats Pulpit’s own Taylor Kyles pointed out, Mike Vrabel and company have been successful in this area going back to the head coach’s arrival last year.

On Sunday, however, a challenge awaits: the Jets’ opponents have converted only 37.5% of fourth downs entering Week 6, tied for the sixth-best percentage in the league so far. Of course, it needs to be said that the Raiders were at 25% ahead of last week’s game, having allowed opponents to go only 1-for-4 before running into New England.

Corey Kiner’s opportunity

When TreVeyon Henderson went down with what was later diagnosed as a high ankle sprain last Sunday, third-string running back Corey Kiner took his spot in the lineup. However, on his very first touch, Kiner lost a fumble.

For head caoch Mike Vrabel, however, the issue is more nuanced than “guy loses ball.”

“Corey did a lot of really good things, so there’s a high confidence,” he said. “Nobody notices or really talks about the guy that comes back into the gap and hammers the ball out. You guys always fail to mention that. You guys always just put it on the guy who has the ball. We all share in that, and we’ll be better. But I like the way Corey runs. Yes, he does have to hang onto the ball, and we’ve got to do a better job of protecting the guy and keeping people away from him.”

Despite the fumble, Kiner had a good day running the football versus the Raiders: he finished with six carries for 52 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per carry. For Vrabel, that production did not happen by sheer luck but the work he has put in since arriving in Foxborough via trade with the Arizona Cardinals in late August.

“He works extremely hard,” Vrabel said. “It’s a new system for him. He didn’t have the luxury of being here since April like a lot of guys. So, he works really, really hard with Tony Dews. I just love his spirit, his energy. He’s willing to do whatever it is asked of him to help this football team. I think he saw some good runs last week, and we’ll see if we can get him some more runs this week and continue to develop him and see if he can play some special teams for us and things like that. But he’s a great person, and I love his spirit.”

With Henderson’s status up in the air for Sunday’s game against the Jets, Kiner seeing extended action again seems very possible.

Hunter Henry named Community MVP

Hunter Henry hosted his second Freedom to Play ping pong tournament last week, and it raised $220,000 for the International Justice Mission vying to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

“I’m thankful to be honored and excited to continue to bring awareness to end human trafficking across the globe,” Henry said.

For his efforts, the Patriots team captain was named the NFLPA Community MVP of Week 6.

To honor Henry’s community work, the NFLPA will donate $10,000 to the International Justice Mission. He also is now eligible for the Alan Page Community Award, which honors players’ charitable work and comes with an additional donation of $100,000.

Week ahead

There won’t be much time for the Patriots to reflect on Sunday’s game against the Jets. Just four days later, the next one awaits: they will travel to Chicago to take on the Bears on Thursday Night Football.

Mike Vrabel’s team will be operating on a tight schedule until then. Players will be in the facility on Monday regardless of the result versus the Jets; the team will hold a walkthrough Tuesday, followed by a full practice on Wednesday and a flight to Chicago.

The first injury report of the week will be released on Monday, but due to a lack of actual practice will be an estimation.