FOXBORO — A Texans defensive back said he always wanted to win with New England after the Patriots ended Houston’s season Sunday and punched their ticket to the AFC Championship.
Myles Bryant did not show up in the stat sheet in Sunday’s 28-16 divisional-round loss to his former team, but the cornerback said he looks fondly back at his time with the Patriots, where he began his career.
“I always wanted to be able to win here,” Bryant told the Herald postgame. “We weren’t able to in my four years here, but I learned a lot just from the guys, the coaches, the city … still got a special place in my heart.”
Bryant originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Washington in 2020, when Texans GM Nick Caserio spent his final year as an executive with New England, before he signed with Houston in March 2024.
On Sunday, Bryant saw his former teammate Marcus Jones intercept Texans’ QB C.J. Stroud early in the second quarter, returning the errant pass for a touchdown and completely shifting the game’s momentum as the Patriots went ahead for good, at 14-10.
The Patriots’ defense intercepted Stroud four times, pressuring the third-year QB heavily throughout the game.
Bryant recounted how his first NFL locker was not too far away from where he was stationed in the visitors’ locker room on Sunday and how he had to grind to earn a defensive role with New England.
After signing as an undrafted free agent with the Patriots, Bryant saw COVID-19 wipe out mini-camps, OTAs and preseason games. Despite those obstacles, he still made the team. Bryant, 28, signed with Houston after a career year in 2023, when he posted 77 tackles, an interception, one sack, six passes defended and two forced fumbles.
The veteran defensive back recorded two tackles for Houston in Drake Maye’s NFL starting debut with the Patriots in October 2024, a game that had a much different result than Sunday’s as the Texans clobbered New England, 41-21.
Bryant told the Herald that Maye has evolved his game since then, connecting the MVP-contending QB’s growth to Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
“Josh is a football genius,” Bryant said of McDaniels. “He understands offenses, he understands defenses. He’s able to just game plan his tail off. I think we’ve seen that improvement a lot, and I think Josh is trusting (Maye) a lot to run the offense and doing a good job.”
Bryant played all four of his seasons with the Patriots under Bill Belichick. He said that it’s evident that Mike Vrabel has shifted the culture in the Patriots locker room from Belichick’s successor, Jerod Mayo, who lasted just a season.
“You could clearly see that those guys have turned it around from last year to this year,” Bryant said.
