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Oct 6, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins (21) reacts after a turnover on downs by the Miami Dolphins during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Patriots DB Breaks Down First Interception of Season

Originally posted on New England Patriots on SI
By Ethan Hurwitz | Last updated Sep 8, 2025 9:00 AM ET

This summer, the New England Patriots completely revamped their safety position. Longtime starters Jabrill Peppers (released) and Kyle Dugger (relegated to second-string) are out of the lineup, while Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson have overtaken the top two spots on the defense. In Sunday's loss against the Las Vegas Raiders, while the overall execution from that unit wasn't the best, Hawkins nabbed an interception that helped swing momentum back in New England's direction in the first half.

Hawkins spoke postgame about what he saw on the turnover, as well as how his unit fared in the first game of the 2025 regular season.

"I was just back there in the post, reading the quarterback," Hawkins said. "I kind of saw his back foot triggered. I went and trusted myself, and the ball fell in my hands. Rush and coverage married up together. We had a good rush; the boys up front were doing their thing. Then we had good coverage from the corners and nickel."

The ball fell into Hawkins' hands after free agent signing Carlton Davis helped break the pass up. It was one of the many defensive highlights from the Patriots in the game, but the second half saw the Raiders score 13 unanswered points to run away with the 20-13 victory.

"I would say for one, it wasn't good enough. We've got to focus on the details, the little things that got us beat," Hawkins said. "No matter what call, no matter what we're in, we've got to find a way, and that means honing in on the details, playing team defense, not chasing things and coming out for that second half, carrying that momentum and finishing the second half. That's just the biggest thing is sticking together through that, as a team and as a unit."

The first half was a good showing by Hawkins and company. After a shaky first series where Raiders quarterback Geno Smith connected on a long touchdown to Tre Tucker, the Patriots settled down and played their style of defense.

What came after was a myriad of pressures off the edge from Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson, and the eventual pick from Hawkins — the first of his Patriots tenure since signing here back in 2024.

"We just started to play our ball," he said. "We started to figure it out. Coming into the first game and playing against teams with new coaches, new coordinators, you don't really have too much of an idea of what they're doing. You kind of do; you have the basic gist of things, but you don't have as many tendencies. So, you've kind of got to go out there, the first 15's the script, see what they're doing, then you're like, 'Okay, we've got to settle down, play our ball.' The juices are flowing, home opener, everybody's turnt, and we settled down and played our ball. Going into the second half, we gave up too many explosives. That was the biggest thing, eliminating the X plays. I tip my hat off to those boys, they did their thing, and we've just got to eliminate those X plays."

Overall, the Patriots plan to blanket star tight end Brock Bowers worked -- a lot of that was attributed to how the secondary bracketed Las Vegas' young weapon. The communication between the new starters in the defense wasn't the issue for the Patriots.

"The communication was good," Hawkins said. "I feel like everybody was aligned and knew what they were doing. It's just the biggest thing is like I said, honing in on the details and execution, and executing. Executing, that's just the biggest thing."

Hawkins will look to nab another interception when the Miami Dolphins play host to the Patriots next Sunday. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw two picks in his team's loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

This article first appeared on New England Patriots on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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