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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said the team’s inside position for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft won’t impact his game plan for Sunday’s season finale against the visiting Buffalo Bills.
If the Patriots (3-13) lose to the Bills, they would ensure they pick first in the draft for the first time since 1993, when they selected quarterback Drew Bledsoe out of Washington State.
“We’re 100% focused on beating the Buffalo Bills and that’s what we have to do,” Mayo said in a video conference Monday morning.
Entering Week 17, the New York Giants had been the favorite for the No. 1 pick, but their 45-33 victory over the Indianapolis Colts catapulted the Patriots into the pole position.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Patriots now have a 78.1% chance for the No. 1 pick, followed by the Tennessee Titans (11.9%), Cleveland Browns (9.2%) and New York Giants (0.9%).
One subplot of note for the Patriots is that the Bills, who have locked up the No. 2 playoff seed in the AFC, could potentially limit playing time for quarterback Josh Allen and other starters.
Of that possibility, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said Sunday, “It does give us options, and we’ll see where it takes us. We have some guys who are hurting right now and might need some rest. But we’ll see. We have some guys, also, that we may want to take a look at — whether it be offensively, defensively or special teams — that we’re a little curious about that just weren’t maybe ready to be active yet. So, I think that will factor in.”
As for the Patriots, Mayo left open the possibility that rookie quarterback Drake Maye could have his playing time scaled back to limit his exposure to injury with the future in mind.
“I would say right now, everything is in consideration, and we’ll see how the week goes,” Mayo said, before adding on sports radio WEEI: “It’s the last game of the season and we have to look forward. It’s a journey. It’s trying to be present and win this football game, but we have to look out the front windshield and where we want to go.”
Asked if fellow rookie quarterback Joe Milton III could be elevated to the game-day roster and given a chance to play, Mayo said: “It’s absolutely a possibility; all things are still under consideration.”
