Losing on purpose isn't the plan for the New England Patriots as they prepare to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass. While New England (3-13) officially would secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if it falls to Buffalo in the regular-season finale, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said he wants his team to end the campaign on a high note. "My message to the guys was we want to finish off the season strong and try to build some momentum going into the offseason," Mayo said. "I would say the guys are ready to go. ... I've never been a part of a team, as a player or as a coach, going into a game not wanting to win. "It's not going to change today, so that's my message to the team." Playing to win means the Patriots plan to stick with rookie Drake Maye under center. The third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft is dealing with a right hand injury, with the possibility that fellow rookie Joe Milton III sees some playing time. "If he's healthy and ready to go, as we go through this week of practice, then he'll play," Mayo said of Maye, who was a limited participant during practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt reiterated on Thursday that Maye is looking good at practice and said, "He's starting the game, for sure." Van Pelt said the plan is for Maye to play the entire game, though Milton is seeing some first-team reps this week. The Bills (13-3) helped push New England toward the top pick by recording a 24-21 win over the Patriots in Week 16. The situation got worse for New England in a 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last Saturday, the Patriots' sixth straight defeat. Maye finished with only 117 yards and one touchdown on 12-of-22 passing against Los Angeles, which held New England to 181 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. Buffalo, on the other hand, ended up on the right side of a blowout, dismantling the New York Jets 40-14 last Sunday. Josh Allen completed 16 of 27 passes for 182 yards and two TDs and also found the end zone once on the ground, and the Bills' defense didn't let New York score until 6:59 remained in the game. Getting past the Jets allowed Buffalo to clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC, giving Bills coach Sean McDermott a chance to experiment on Sunday. "What we're going to do is you'll see some starters out there playing, and you'll see some other players who we want to take a good look at," McDermott said. "So it'll be a blend of both." Allen will start but will have a short leash, according to McDermott. Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard (quadriceps) already has been ruled out for Sunday but was a limited practice participant on Thursday. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel (rib), defensive back Cam Lewis (shoulder) and safeties Damar Hamlin (ribs) and Taylor Rapp (neck) were also limited on Thursday. Wide receiver Amari Cooper (back) was added to the injury report on Thursday but was a full participant. Maye headed a list of limited participants at practice Thursday for the Partriots. He was joined by nine players, including safety Kyle Dugger (ankle/quadricep), tight end Hunter Henry (foot) and linebacker Anfernee Jennings (knee). Cornerback Christian Gonzalez (concussion), center Ben Brown (concussion) and wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk (shoulder) were held out of practice. Wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was a full participant after missing practice on Wednesday due to illness. --Field Level Media

The New York Jets said Thursday that they completed interviews with Ron Rivera for their head coaching vacancy and Louis Riddick for their general manager job. The Jets have gotten the hiring process underway after firing coach Robert Saleh in October and GM Joe Douglas the next month. Rivera, 62, spent this season as an analyst for ESPN and Westwood One after serving as an NFL head coach for the previous 13 seasons. Rivera coached the Carolina Panthers from 2011-19 and the Washington Football Team/Commanders from 2020-23. His record sat at 102-103-2 overall and 26-40-1 with the Commanders when he was fired following the 2023 season. Rivera guided the Panthers to a 15-1 season and a Super Bowl appearance in 2015. Riddick, 55, has been with ESPN since 2013 and has interviewed for GM vacancies in recent years, most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers after the 2021 season. The former NFL defensive back (1992-96, 1998) worked as a scout and director of pro personnel for Washington from 2001-07, and as a scout and front office executive for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2008-13. New York has already interviewed Thomas Dimitroff, Jon Robinson and Jim Nagy for the GM job. The Jets (4-12) have Jeff Ulbrich as their interim head coach and Phil Savage as their general manager as they wrap a disappointing season. The new regime will have to decide whether to cut ties with Aaron Rodgers or move forward with the 41-year-old quarterback for a third season. --Field Level Media

The viewership of "Thursday Night Football" on Amazon Prime Video increased for the third straight season, up 11 percent from last season and 38 percent over the 2022 campaign. Including the Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs matchup on Black Friday (average of 13.5 million viewers), the increase over last season's viewership improves to 13 percent. The 2024 season saw Amazon's average per-game audience reach 13.2 million, per Nielsen, up from last year's 11.86 million. Two years ago, Amazon averaged 9.58 million viewers. While those figures fall short of the 16.2 million viewers that Fox and NFL Network averaged on Thursday night games in 2021, they show that Amazon is making positive strides. Amazon is also bringing in a younger audience -- by nearly seven years than on linear TV in general and more than 14 years than on broadcast networks (CBS, Fox and NBC). Among viewers ages 18-34, "TNF" averaged 2.61 million viewers, an increase of 37 percent over linear TV from Thursday games in 2021. Amazon also saw an uptick in viewership among fans ages 18-49 and 25-54. Per Nielsen, "TNF" viewers had a median household income of $101,800, a 16 percent upgrade over NFL broadcasts on linear networks. "We could not be more proud of our partnership with the NFL, our viewership growth and the innovations we've initiated for fans and brands over these first three seasons of TNF on Prime," Prime Video global head of sports and ads Jay Marine said in a statement. Though "TNF" is over for the season, Amazon will broadcast its first NFL wild-card game on Jan. 11 or 12. The date and game will be determined after the regular season, which ends on Sunday. Amazon will have a shot to challenge Netflix's NFL streaming record of 24.3 million viewers set on Christmas Day. --Field Level Media

There are sure things, and then there's what the Baltimore Ravens appear to be headed for going into their regular-season finale Saturday against the visiting Cleveland Browns. Coming off a 31-2 win at Houston on Christmas Day that gave the Ravens a one-game lead on Pittsburgh in the AFC North, Baltimore (11-5) entered the week as a whopping 17 1/2-point favorite -- and that only grew Thursday with the news that Bailey Zappe would take over as Cleveland's starting quarterback. After all, not only are the Ravens playing like a Super Bowl contender, but Cleveland (3-13) is playing like a team hellbent on earning the No. 1 overall draft pick. The Browns have lost five in a row and could be on the clock if they fall again, coupled with New England and Tennessee wins on Sunday. There's also the little matter of what happened on Oct. 27 when the teams met in Cleveland: Browns 29, Ravens 24. Jameis Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns that day to end Baltimore's five-game winning streak. "You can look at the Browns' record and say that's a sorry team, but this is the NFL," Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said after that game. "Any week can be your day." A lot of weeks have been Jackson's day since then, particularly last week. Jackson set the league's all-time career rushing record for quarterbacks with an 87-yard performance that gave him 6,110, 1 yard more than Michael Vick. In addition, Jackson was an efficient 10 of 15 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 39 touchdown passes against just four interceptions for the season. The seventh-year pro could be in line to win Most Valuable Player honors for a third time. "He set the all-time NFL record for rushing yards (for a quarterback) in pro football," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "It's just kind of what he does every week." While Jackson and the Ravens chase individual achievements and championships, Cleveland is simply ready for the clock to strike midnight on a forgettable season. The Browns wanted to take another step forward after earning a playoff spot last year but instead reverted back to the losing they've done for most of the past 25 years. Cleveland is making another quarterback change after Dorian Thompson-Robinson was ineffective for a second straight game in a 20-3 home loss Sunday against Miami. He completed just 24 of 47 passes for 170 yards and an interception, giving him six picks and zero touchdown passes in 115 attempts. When Zappe -- who hasn't played a down this season -- takes the first snap Saturday, he will become the 40th different starter since the Browns were reborn before the 1999 season. Coach Kevin Stefanski said that Winston, who is nursing a shoulder injury, likely would be the emergency quarterback while the Browns have the "potential" to play both Zappe and Thompson-Robinson. If Cleveland is to pull off a mammoth upset, it likely would require more production from an offense that ranks last in the NFL with an average of 15.5 points per game. Browns quarterbacks have tossed 21 interceptions, tied with the Tennessee Titans for the highest total in the league. The Browns ruled out running backs Jerome Ford (ankle) and Pierre Strong (concussion), linebacker Jordan Hicks (concussion), tight end David Njoku (knee) and cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder). Starting defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson (knee) missed practice Thursday and is one of six Browns marked questionable. Star Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett (thigh) missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, but after returning in a limited capacity Thursday he carries no game designation into the weekend. Garrett is tied with Cincinnati' Trey Hendrickson for the league lead with 14 sacks. The Ravens ruled out running back Justice Hill (concussion, illness) and cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring). Starting left guard Patrick Mekari (illness) and tight end Charlie Kolar (forearm) are questionable. Despite the Browns' win back in October, Baltimore has dominated the series with a 36-15 advantage. --Field Level Media

At the end of another unproductive season, the Cleveland Browns will turn to their fourth starting quarterback of the year and their 40th since 1999. The Browns on Thursday named Bailey Zappe their starter for the season finale Saturday at the Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland (3-13) has lost five straight games as Jameis Winston and Dorian Thompson-Robinson had turns under center. Winston took over for Week 1 starter Deshaun Watson, who ruptured his right Achilles tendon in October. Winston suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder, paving the way for the Browns to test out Thompson-Robinson, a fifth-round draft pick in 2023. Coach Kevin Stefanski said Thompson-Robinson will also get some playing time Saturday. The Browns' injury report showed that Thompson-Robinson (calf) practiced in full Thursday after being limited Tuesday and Wednesday. Winston was limited each day and is officially questionable. Nevertheless, the team will turn to Zappe, who has yet to play in a game this season after beginning his career with the New England Patriots (2022-23). In 14 career games (eight starts) in New England, Zappe threw for 2,053 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. When the Patriots waived him in August, he joined the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad, off which the Browns claimed him in October. He was signed to Cleveland's active roster Dec. 3. --Field Level Media