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Boston, MA
NFL notes: The new glue of the Patriots defense is a 24-year-old safety from Sacramento State
FOXBORO — Last year, Bill Belichick had this draft crush.
He was small-school prospect, undersized and undersold. A defender without a clear position, but obvious potential. And evaluating him became more difficult as the draft drew closer.
An injury at the Senior Bowl in early February forced this Sacramento State product to sit out most of the traditional draft process. No combine invite, no lifting, no running. No chance for NFL teams to compare him side by side with other prospects.
Suddenly, his film became his resume. On that film, he hunted. Running backs, wide receivers and tight ends, none were safe from this 6-foot-3, 217-pound self-guided missile.
But how exactly, at that size and coming from the FCS level, would he translate to the NFL?
To find out, the Patriots hosted Marte Mapu for a pre-draft visit in mid-April. He impressed, and weeks later, they selected him in the third round.
Even then, Belichick didn’t know if Mapu would settle as an NFL linebacker or safety. But the kid, he figured, could play, and his new teammates were quick to learn one reason why Belichick loved Mapu.
“He’s always in the film room studying. Even day one of (spring practices) when he was a rookie,” Patriots defensive captain Deatrich Wise said. “And you can tell when coach asks question, who speaks, who corrects things. He’s always that guy.”
Fast forward, and Mapu demonstrated the power of his studying in a stunning season debut last Sunday.
After missing two months with another injury he suffered in training camp, Mapu played all 75 defensive snaps during the Pats’ loss to Miami. He aligned as a deep safety, inside linebacker, outside linebacker and even over the slot as a nickelback, finishing with seven tackles and a pass breakup. Patriots coaches also tasked him with leading the defense, relaying play-calls and making pre-snap checks.
The Dolphins tested Mapu’s leadership immediately, going up-tempo on their first drive. Except Mapu had anticipated that tempo, reasoning Miami head coach Mike McDaniel, an ex-49ers assistant, would mimic what his old boss, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, had done to the Patriots the week before. Mapu relayed his gut feeling to linebacker Raekwon McMillan, who then made the tackle on Miami’s opening play, a harmless four-yard run, and scooted back to the defensive huddle.
“(He’s) a young guy, but he comes in like a vet,” McMillan said. “Things that took me two or three years to pick up on, he’s getting right now.”
For the Patriots, the timing of Mapu’s emergence couldn’t be better. Jabrill Peppers, a captain and pillar of their defense, is out indefinitely on the commissioner’s exempt list following his arrest on assault charges and drug possession. Kyle Dugger is dealing with a lingering ankle injury.
Without them, the Patriots nonetheless deployed three safeties on more than two-thirds of their defensive snaps. They trusted Mapu and rookie Dell Pettus to capably replace two of their 10 best players in a critical divisional game. For one Sunday, they delivered.
“There’s a bunch of stuff going on out there that people don’t really know,” McMillan said, “but Marte and Dell (Pettus) were on it last game.”
Pats defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington agreed.
“I’m proud of the way (Mapu) played on Sunday,” Covington said. “I think he earned the right to do that, because I know he studied in the classroom, on the field. That’s a smart guy who prepared very, very well.”
Like the wisest Patriots defenders of the Belichick era, Mapu pulls from the team’s past to propel himself forward. Any time ex-Patriots safety Devin McCourty visits the facility, Mapu requests some 1-on-1 time with him. He wants to know how McCourty played so consistently, walking the tightrope that is the deep safety position in a single-high defense.
McCourty obliges.
“It’s cool, just to have someone that’s been so great at what they do,” Mapu said. “And everybody has their own style, but to hear from him and how he played in this system, it’s so specific that it really helps.”
Mapu, other team sources says, is interested in little outside of football. He keeps a low profile. He’s straightforward. Asked about recovering from such a sudden workload last week, Mapu didn’t mince words.
Callahan: How a Drake Maye-led Patriots offense could look and more Week 6 thoughts
“Move as slow as possible,” he said. “Rest as much as possible.”
Mapu also explained eventually last week’s game reached a point of stasis. The Dolphins wanted to run the ball, and the Patriots were intent on playing three-safety personnel to withstand their rushing attack, while keeping enough speed on the field to defend Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The game slowed.
Eventually Miami wore the Pats down, breaking through for a game-winning three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Yet Mapu never left the field, solely focused on fulfilling his assignment down after down; wherever and however he was asked to play.
“I didn’t want to do too much or try to identify too many (of Miami’s) plays,” he admitted. “but that’s what growth is for.”
Growth, and the foreseeable future as the new glue of the Patriots defense
Play-calling lessons
Halloween is almost three weeks away, but Alex Van Pelt feels haunted already.
The Patriots’ 54-year-old offensive coordinator volunteered Thursday he still regrets play-calls from the team’s loss at the Jets in Week 3. In the days after that game, Van Pelt said he got too pass-happy.
On Thursday, he reviewed his first five games as a play-caller.
“I feel like I’ve put us in good situations, I’ve had some bad calls,” he said. “Obviously the Jets game haunts me a little bit so in that game, but we all collectively just have to better. We have to do better in situations, situations like that. At the same time, we all just need to step up our game across the board. That goes for everyone, coaches, players.”
Covington has led another struggling unit, which ranks 28th by DVOA and 23rd by EPA/play. Covington has rebounded since Seattle’s Geno Smith and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers torched his blitz package in back-to-back weeks. But managing a banged-up roster has proved to be his greatest challenge.
“It’s just, for me, to continue to evolve as the season goes on because it seems like every week we have, whether it’s a player that goes out, a different unit that needs to step up, I need to help the players play in the right way, based off who’s available for the game,” Covington said. “We haven’t had a consistent group this season. It’s always been somebody different, whether, like last week we had both dugout, we had family out and that, like every single week.
“So just trying to make sure that we’re all playing together as a unit, and then making sure that we tailor their game plan for who we have out there on the field. So I think that’s, that’s the biggest thing for me as a play-caller.”
Coaching connections
When the Patriots’ defensive braintrust stares across the sideline Sunday, they will spot a familiar face.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is a fellow Alabaman that Covington followed as a high school and college player, also from the greater Birmingham area. Ryans played at the University of Alabama, where he became a unanimous All-American and eventually left to play 10 years in the NFL. Since then, he’s enjoyed a meteoric rise through the NFL coaching ranks, making the playoffs last season as a first-year head coach after two seasons as the 49ers defensive coordinator.
“I’m proud of him, the success you see,” Covington said. “You know, a Black head coach in the National Football League, and just the success he’s had and what he’s done with that team. I’m proud of him, and I look up to what he’s doing over there … (They) fly around, (he) gets those guys playing hard.”
Shortly after Ryans left Alabama, Jerod Mayo was coming up as a new star linebacker for the University of Tennessee. Mayo, 38, admitted this week he used to chase Ryans’ tackle records in the SEC.
“I would say the history between DeMeco and myself goes back a long way, and he doesn’t even know it. He was one of those guys I looked up to. In college, you try to chase those tackle numbers. I would put Patrick Willis in that same realm, as far as me as a young guy trying to chase those guys as far as stats are concerned. He’s done a fantastic job. … I look up to DeMeco and that entire organization, and hopefully we can replicate some of that stuff here in the near term and in the future,” he said.
Quote of the Week
“He played his balls off last week.” — Patriots defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery on defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale
FSU softball focuses on rival Florida. Here’s its approach on Wednesday
Here’s how Lonni Alameda and Florida State softball are preparing for its rivalry matchup against Florida. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
Jazzy Francik returned to the site of one of the toughest outings of her career and delivered a dominant performance.
The Florida State sophomore tossed her third career no-hitter and powered the Seminoles to a 10-0 win over Boston College in six innings Saturday at Harrington Athletics Village, moving FSU within one win of clinching the ACC regular-season title.
Francik (19-2) was in control from the first pitch, striking out six and allowing only one baserunner on an infield error in the fifth inning. She needed just 67 pitches to complete the no-hitter, the third of her career and one of the most efficient outings of her season.
Florida State’s offense gave its ace plenty of support, collecting 12 hits and scoring 10 runs. After a scoreless first inning, the Seminoles broke through in the second with three runs on RBI doubles by freshmen Haley Griggs and Makenna Sturgis.
FSU added four more runs in the fourth inning behind a two-run double from Jaysoni Beachum and an RBI single by Ashtyn Danley. The Seminoles put the run-rule into play in the sixth, scoring three times on an RBI single from Sturgis, an RBI double by Isa Torres and a sacrifice fly from Danley.
Beachum, Torres, Sturgis and Danley each drove in two runs as Florida State continued to pressure Boston College despite several highlight-reel defensive plays from the Eagles.
Francik and the Seminole defense sealed the no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.
Florida State is one win away from securing at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship. A sweep of Boston College on Sunday would clinch the title outright.
How to watch FSU vs. Boston College Game 2
- Date: Saturday, May 2
- Time: 4 p.m.
- Where: Harrington Athletics Village, Brighton, Massachusetts
- TV/Stream: ACC extra
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
Home Buying
Data shows Greater Boston borrowers spent at least 30 percent of their income on their mortgage payment in 2025.
Mortgage payments in Greater Boston still rank among the highest in the nation. But a shift has taken place. No longer are prospective buyers getting caught up in the frenzy of bidding wars and stretching their purchase price and mortgage payment to the maximum they can afford. Instead, real estate professionals say that buyers are taking a more cautious approach today, thinking twice about what they’re willing to pay.
According to data recently released by LendingTree, the average mortgage payment on home purchases fell 2.4 percent in 2025, from $1,990 in 2024 to $1,942 per month (for principal and interest only). Still, home affordability remains a challenge: LendingTree reported that one in 10 borrowers are significantly cost-burdened, with 10.2 percent of borrowers nationwide spending 40 percent or more of their income on new mortgage payments.
According to the data, Greater Boston ranked seventh for metros with the highest average new mortgage payments in 2025. The average mortgage payment in the area was $2,784 a month, and 31.4 percent of borrowers spent at least 30 percent of their income on their mortgage payment.
Of course, if you add the other costs that get rolled into mortgage payments — property taxes, home insurance, and private mortgage insurance — that monthly housing cost goes up even higher, and that doesn’t even include utilities and homeowners association fees. While LendingTree couldn’t provide a total monthly housing cost for the Boston metro, WalletHub recently released data on the states where people spend the most and least for housing, and Massachusetts ranked third on that list, with average homeowners there paying about 34 percent of their income on housing costs, second only to Hawaii and California.
“Boston’s core issue is simple: too many people are chasing too few homes,” said Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst. “The area has struggled with housing supply for years, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.”
The good news is that despite the price pressure and challenge of bidding wars, local experts say that buyers today are not stretching their budgets just to get into a home and then find that they became cash-poor in the process.
“People today are a little more strategic,” said Melvin A. Vieira Jr., a real estate agent with Re/Max Real Estate Center in Boston. “Buyers are more educated, and they’ve heard about the bidding wars of the past, so they’re making reasonable decisions rather than emotional ones.”
Consider Sarah, 36, and Mike McCracken, 38. When they were searching for their first home, they were approved for a $900,000 mortgage and could have easily afforded the four-bedroom, three-bath Colonial in Sudbury that they fell in love with. But Sarah was nervous about owing more than $650,000. So, they expanded their search and found a smaller Cape Cod-style home in Walpole, which they purchased for $575,000.
“We could have made the numbers work with the original house,” said Sarah, who has since become a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker. “But being more conservative and making a decision that made sense for the present, rather than a hypothetical future, allowed us to have a smaller mortgage payment and keep other costs lower so we could travel when we want to and were able to do a renovation when we needed to. Giving ourselves the flexibility to make decisions as they came up because we hadn’t locked in that higher payment was the best decision.”
Those must be some extra sticky fingers.
The Boston Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a man they say robbed a South End candy shop at knife point.
The man, captured on surveillance video, entered Madeleine’s Candy Shop at 47 Clarendon St. just before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. He then walked up to an employee while holding “what appeared to be a knife,” according to a BPD statement, and demanded cash. He fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
Police describe the man as a white or light-skinned Hispanic man wearing a maroon sweatshirt, a gray wool cap, gray sweatpants, and a black mask.
Police ask that anyone who recognizes the man or who has information on the theft to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or to provide information anonymously through the CrimeStoppers tip line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS (8477), texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463), or through the online portal at Police.Boston.gov/CrimeStoppers/.
FBI recovers stolen 17th century Italian urn
Boston FBI agents recovered and returned a 17th century urn stolen from an Italian church.
“It’s incredibly exciting when the FBI can recover a piece of history that carries such deep emotional and cultural significance,” said Ted Docks, the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI. “After all, this reliquary urn is a tangible link to intense religious devotion and a connection to the generations who lived and prayed with it.
It represents the intersection of faith, history, and art – elements that are invaluable to the people of Italy and to humanity as a whole,” he continued. “This case highlights the power of international cooperation and our collective commitment to safeguard the world’s cultural treasures, no matter where they may be.”
The reliquary urn, which authorities say is a significant piece of Italian history and is registered with the Historical Artistic Heritage Items of the Italian Episcopal Conference, was stolen sometime in August 2022 from the church of San Michele Arcangelo di Cangiano.
The piece turned up in the hands of an antiques dealer in the American Northeast on Feb. 11, 2026. The dealer, who purchased it at some point from an Italian dealer, voluntarily relinquished the urn to the FBI, who gave it back to the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Boston-based FBI agents worked with the agency’s art crime team, its attaché in Rome and with the Italian Carabinieri, a paramilitary national police agency. The FBI’s art crime division was launched in 2004 and has recovered more than 20,000 items valued at more than $1 billion, according to the agency.
A reliquary is a medieval holder of a relic, according to Bowdoin College’s art history department, an item that “belonged to a saint … or, in many cases, the relics were believed to be body parts of a saint, truly powerful objects in the eyes of many medieval Christians.”
2 teens arrested for Haverhill mill fire
Two teens have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Haverhill mill building earlier this week.
Firefighters responded to the mill at 14 Stevens St. at around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday after callers reported heavy smoke and flames. Firefighters arrived to “intense fire conditions that required a coordinated, multi-alarm response,” according to the Haverhill Police Department.
Crews worked the scene all day and were still fighting hot spots at least as late as 11:22 that night, when the firefighter union made its own post on the efforts.
The building was determined the next day to be a total loss, according to a statement issued by Mayor Melinda Barrett, Fire Chief Christopher Cesati, and city Building Inspector Thomas Bridgewater.
“Due to the intensity of the fire, the resulting heat severely compromised the structural steel supporting the four-story building,” the update stated. An independent structural engineer “determined that the building sustained a critical loss of structural integrity and will require full demolition.
That same day, Haverhill PD announced the arrest of 18-year-old city resident Isabella Sargent, who they charged with arson of a structure and conspiracy to commit arson.
On Thursday, police announced they had also arrested a second teen, this one a 17-year-old juvenile, on charges of arson and related offenses.
Police report that there were no civilian injuries related to the fire and that the incident remains under investigation.
The police ask that anyone with any information contact them by calling 978-373-1212 ext.1551.
Police search for Roxbury shooters
Boston police are looking for three males they say are responsible for shooting two other males on Kendall Street in Roxbury last month.
Police responded to 3 Kendall St. in Roxbury a little after 7 p.m. on March 29. There they found two male victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were treated at local hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.
One suspect fled toward the parking lot behind that address while the other two fled toward where Kendall Street intersects with Shawmut Avenue.
Police on Wednesday released a surveillance still of the suspects and ask that if anyone recognizes them or has any information regarding the shooting to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or through the CrimeStoppers tip line. Crimestoppers information is detailed at the bottom of the first Crime Briefs entry.
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