Patriots ‘100% focused' on beating Bills Sunday, coach Jerod Mayo says

​The final meeting of the season between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots doesn’t have any playoff implications. But both teams have plenty to play for.

New England (3-13) enters its final game currently in position to get the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL draft. A win this week could threaten that status. But coach Jerod Mayo said purposely losing the game to secure that pick isn’t a consideration for him or his players.

“We’re 100% focused on beating the Buffalo Bills, and that’s what we have to do,” he said.

Mayo also made it clear that being on the field this week is important for the development of rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Despite Maye briefly leaving last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers after sustaining a blow to the head, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt confirmed Thursday that Maye will start against Buffalo.

“I’m ready to go out there and win and compete in a close game. I want to be out there,” Maye said. “You get experiences in these close games that you can’t replicate in practice. You can’t get those reps anywhere else.”

One of the reasons Maye specifically noted a desire to win a close game is because the Patriots have struggled so much in them this season.

New England is just 2-6 in games decided by one score this season. Flipping their record in those games could have put the Patriots into playoff contention.

Receiver Kendrick Bourne said it’s why the focus in the locker room has been on ending the season on a positive note.

“You never want to promote losing … that’s the last thing we want to do,” he said.

BUFFALO BILLS

The Bills (13-3) enter the week locked into the No. 2 seed for the AFC playoffs following last week’s rout of the New York Jets.

Typically, that would necessitate a team resting its starters. And Buffalo plans to, with the notable exception of quarterback Josh Allen, who'll be on the field Sunday to extend his 114-game starting streak, which includes the playoffs. He has not missed a start since sitting out four games with an injured throwing elbow in his rookie season in 2018.

Though he’s a long way from Brett Favre’s NFL record of 321 consecutive starts (including postseason), Allen acknowledged that extending his personal iron man streak is on his mind.

“It’s something that means a lot to me of just making sure that I’ve been available, playing through things throughout the year and throughout the years,” Allen said. “So, I’m glad I get to start.”

Bills coach Sean McDermott lamented NFL rules limiting teams to elevating only two practice squad players to the active roster per game.

McDermott would have been open to elevating a majority, if not all, of Buffalo’s 17-player squad to not only rest his starters but also provide his practice squad players a reward for the job they’ve done all season.

“They bust their butts, they work extremely hard and they’ve earned the right, all of them, to play this week,” McDermott said. “It’s a shame they can’t due to the number counts.”