London, UK – After arriving early in the morning British Summer Time, the Patriots first stop in their trip across the pond was to a place that might have some recognizable features.

During a scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Hermione Granger impresses by lifting a feather using a "Wingardium Leviosa" charm during Professor Flitwick's class at Hogwarts. The scene in the first installment of the Harry Potter series was filmed in the Four Form Room of the Harrow School in London. On Friday, those same facilities served a much different purpose.

Maybe you aren't a Potterhead, but thanks for indulging. Getting back to football, the Patriots held their final practice of the week ahead of Sunday's game vs. the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium at the Harrow School. Although the on-field preparation is paramount, the team is also adjusting following an overnight flight that saw the Pats land at around 2:15 a.m. ET, or 7:15 a.m. local team at Heathrow Airport. After a quick refresh, it was off to practice.

The Patriots are over 3,000 miles from Gillette Stadium, but the Pats stuck to their usual Friday practice routine of honing in on situational football. As far as attendance, the good news is that lead-back Rhamondre Stevenson (foot) returned to practice on Friday. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters in London that Stevenson will "probably be a game-time decision" but is nearing a return from his foot injury. Stevenson sat out last week's game against the Texans.

New England is hoping that Stevenson, who made the trip unlike T Vederian Lowe (ankle), will return as soon as this week. Lowe, who was ruled out en route to London, and rookie WR Javon Baker were not spotted at Friday's session.

Along with a brief viewing of Patriots practice, Maye and several other Pats players spoke to reporters at the Harrow School on Friday. Here are the top takeaways from across the pond:

1. QB Drake Maye and HC Jerod Mayo Address Starting Quarterback's Knee Injury

Following his first career start last week, the third-overall pick popped up on the injury report as a full participant due to a knee injury. Maye and Coach Mayo stated that the rookie will play vs. the Jags on Sunday.

"I feel good. These last two days, I felt good out there at practice. I feel good now. Ready to go for Sunday," Maye told reporters.

Coach Mayo was asked about a report from the Boston Globe that Maye had an MRI on his injured knee earlier this week. The Pats HC declined to comment about "medical imaging or anything like that" while adding that he's "confident [Maye] will be ready to play."

Although it's notable when the starting quarterback is on the injury report, it appears that Maye's knee injury is nothing major, and he's not in jeopardy of missing Sunday's game. Along with answering questions about his injury, Maye discussed one area of his game that he's working on following his first career NFL start in last week's loss to the Texans.

This week, Maye has been hard on himself for turnovers, missing throws, and taking four sacks that the rookie said were at least partially on him. Maye told Patriots.com that he felt amped up in his first start, which led to a sailed throw on his first interception. The rookie also believes he needs to get the ball out faster and avoid sacks more effectively.

"The biggest thing is trying to get the football out. These defensive linemen and D-Coordinators try to get after young quarterbacks. Trying to get the ball out and have answers. Not being afraid to check the football down, so that's kind of the biggest thing I'm learning," Maye said. "I took some [sacks] last week that were on the quarterback, and I need to try to help myself and the guys up front."

With most pundits complimenting Maye on his performance last week, one thing that has stood out about the rookie is that he's his own toughest critic.

2. RB Rhamondre Stevenson (Foot) Returns to Practice, Updates His Status

Maye might've put some sacks on himself from last week's game, but it also didn't help that the Patriots running game struggled, making the offense one-dimensional.

New England's running backs only averaged 2.1 yards per rush with only four successful runs compared to six stuffs with zero rushes over 10 yards last week. Furthermore, the Pats RBs produced just 2.3 yards after contact per attempt in Week 6. With their lead-back in the mix in previous weeks, the Patriots ranked third-best in the NFL by averaging 4.1 yards after contact per rush through five weeks.

On Friday, Stevenson practiced for the first time in two weeks after sustaining a foot injury in the Week 5 loss to Miami. Along with adding yards on his own, Stevenson's presence in the backfield also has a domino effect on the entire rushing attack. Stevenson is the Pats lead-back, handling a high volume of early-down rushes. That allows Gibson, an explosive ball carrier in his own right, to play a more natural role.

Before practice, Coach Mayo said Stevenson will "probably be a game-time decision" on Sunday while noting that the Pats running back is "getting closer" to returning to game action.

Following the team's practice in London, Stevenson spoke to reporters for the first time since post-game against the Dolphins and offered this update on his status:

"I'm feeling good right now. I had to take a few days off, but I feel like I should be ready to go on Sunday," Stevenson said. After feeling okay following the Week 5 loss, Stevenson said his foot injury flared up the next day, but he's trending in the right direction.

With their rookie quarterback in his second career start, getting Stevenson back to spark the rushing attack would be huge for the Patriots on Sunday.

3. Patriots Likely to Start Seventh Different O-Line Combination in Seven Games vs. Jags

Every week, we keep you updated on the Patriots starting five along the offensive line. Unfortunately, the group has changed every week due to injury and other factors.

New England will likely start its seventh different offensive line combination in seven weeks. Coach Mayo spoke about the difficulties of all the shuffling in the trenches. Furthermore, our best guess is that the Patriots will roll with the following starting offensive line on Sunday: LT Trey Jacobs, LG Michael Jordan, C Ben Brown, RG Layden Robinson, and RT Mike Onwenu. Again, another significant shakeup.

"It's been tough," Mayo said. "I feel like we've been talking about this since training camp, and we continually do, whether it's replacing someone because of injury or lack of performance. We still are kind of shuffling the deck, so it's definitely been a challenge. In saying that, all the guys have to be ready to play, no matter what position we're talking about."

With their rookie quarterback under center, the Patriots offensive line allowed a season-low 33% pressure rate last week. Although it was a step in the right direction in pass protection, the Pats run blocking was one area where improvement is needed. It's difficult to execute combination blocks and find a rhythm when you're constantly changing personnel, which might be why the run game struggled against Houston last week.

The Patriots would benefit from the offensive line setting into a starting five, but that won't happen this week with another new combination.

4. Rookie WR Javon Baker Absent From Practice in London for Reasons Unknown

The next noteworthy development from Patriots media availability was that fourth-round rookie Javon Baker was not spotted at Friday's practice in London. With seven wideouts currently on the active roster, Baker has been a healthy inactive for four straight games. Recently, the active wide receivers on game day have been Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Ja'Lynn Polk, Kayshon Boutte, and, when healthy, veteran K.J. Osborn. That has meant that former second-rounder Tyquan Thornton and Baker are the odd men out.

Although we don't want to speculate as to why Baker was not at Friday's practice, it was surprising that the fourth-round draft choice wasn't present. Earlier this month, OC Alex Van Pelt said the following in an interview about Baker's lack of playing time:

"He's an extremely talented guy. His ability to play the ball in the air and his ball skills are great. His ability to win and separate is there. For Javon, it's really the details: lining up correctly, running the right routes, earning the trust of the coaching staff and quarterback. But there's a bright future there. Just have to tighten down the details," Van Pelt said.

For fans hoping to see Baker in the game-day rotation, it appears that won't be the case this week. If we take Van Pelt at face value, it sounds like the mental side of the game is holding Baker back. There's also a possibility that he's dealing with a new injury, which we'll find out about on the team's final injury if that's indeed the case.

Again, we don't want to speculate about why Baker was absent. Still, we want to keep you updated on what's happening overseas, and Baker not practicing was surprising. One would expect the Pats to stick with the same receiver corps as last week: Douglas, Bourne, Boutte, Polk, and Osborn.

5. Special Teams Coordinator Jeremy Springer 'Shaking Up' Kickoff Return Unit

Last week, the Texans challenged the Patriots kickoff return unit by forcing six returns rather than exclusively kicking the ball into the end zone for touchbacks.

Unfortunately, the results for the Patriots weren't great. Top return man JaMycal Hasty averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return, while Hasty didn't reach the 30-yard line on any of his six returns. Earlier this week, Coach Mayo was straightforward about his thoughts on New England's struggles in the kickoff return game:

"I would say that's Houston saying we're tougher than you guys. That's the reality of the situation. If they kick it like that, they're saying you're not going to get past the 30-yard line. We just didn't show up in that phase of the game," Mayo said.

On Friday, Springer hinted that some changes are coming, including "moving some guys around" on the return team. Springer said the ideal returner is more of a one-cut-and-go ball carrier rather than a shifty return man like Marcus Jones. With all due respect to Hasty, the Pats might try a faster return man, like second-year DB Isaiah Bolden, who ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash and led the nation by averaging 36.9 yards per kickoff return during his 2021 season at Jackson State.

Bolden has worked with returners during practice and pre-game warmups, along with Hasty, Antonio Gibson, and Ja'Lynn Polk.

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