Pete Carroll and Mike Vrabel begin their new coaching stints as Raiders open season at Patriots

Then, after a successful return to the NFL that included a 2014 Super Bowl win with Seattle, his Seahawks came up short in the championship game the following season when New England’s Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass at the goal line.

Carroll, who is about to begin his first season as the Las Vegas Raiders' coach, was asked this week about whether it still meant something to play against the Patriots.

“Yeah, it does,” he said.

Sunday’s matchup represents a reset for both Las Vegas and New England.

Both are coming off coaching changes after 4-13 finishes last season, with Mike Vrabel leading the latest Patriots rebuild after Jerod Mayo was fired.

Vrabel entered training camp with a three-pronged agenda: build a roster, get players to buy into earning their roles and prepare them to win.

The group that will take the field for New England is younger and more athletic on defense. And the Patriots should have better protection and more weapons around second-year quarterback Drake Maye.

Vrabel said he and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels plan to be cautious opposite an experienced, defensive-minded coach like Carroll.

“The one thing you don’t want to be is too cute, certainly, in Week 1 or at any time,” Vrabel said.

New Diggs

Stefon Diggs was the Patriots' top offensive free agent signing, brought in to give Maye a proven pass catcher after a 2024 season that saw only one receiver exceed 50 catches.

Diggs has five 100-reception seasons in his career but played sparingly this preseason after knee surgery that limited him to eight games in 2024 with Houston.

While expectations will be high for the 31-year-old to produce like he did before the injury, Diggs pointed to some advice he got from New England receivers coach Todd Downing.

“Eat what’s on your plate,” Diggs said. “Everybody gets some plays here and there or whatever you got, if you got this many targets or that many targets, eat what’s on your plate. That’s what’s important to me at this point. Squeezing that lemon and making fruit punch. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Jeanty ready for debut

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty has received a taste of the NFL in training camp and the preseason, but now it begins for real for the sixth pick in the draft.

Las Vegas is placing a lot of its hopes in Jeanty, the Heisman Trophy runner-up last year at Boise State. He had a season for the ages, leading the country with 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns rushing and falling just 27 yards short of Barry Sanders’ college record set during his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1988.

Even at 5-foot-8 and 208 pounds, Jeanty is willing to run through defenders as much as around them. He showed in a preseason game against San Francisco that he could be physical at the NFL level, bulldozing cornerback Deommodore Lenoir on his way to a 13-yard gain.

“I’ve been a pretty physical player and the scenarios I was put in, I kind of had to,” Jeanty said. “But, obviously, you want to pick and choose your battles. The season is long, and I want to be available throughout the whole season.”

Koonce thrilled to be back

Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce will play his first game since the 2023 season. He missed all of last year after tearing an ACL in training camp.

Much was expected of Koonce last year after he ended the previous season with six sacks in his final four games.

Koonce signed a one-year, $12 million contract in March and has been slowly eased back into the lineup.

“Super excited,” Koonce said. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about all through camp. Actually, it’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got injured.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl