FOXBORO — While some Patriots fans in attendance were disappointed to see their team win and lose out on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, rookie quarterback Joe Milton III did provide a silver lining to the day by flashing in his NFL debut.

Milton took over for starter Drake Maye after the Patriots’ first possession and went 22-of-29 for 241 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Milton’s appearance came against mostly Bills backups, but it was still a surprisingly promising performance for a 2024 sixth-round pick, and good enough that the Patriots came away with a win.

He found out he was going to play Sunday after kickoff, when coaches told him he’d play in the second series.

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“Man, I’m going to be honest with you all. Still to this moment right now, none of this feels real,” Milton said. “Just because I did scout team the whole year. I didn’t know when my moment was going to come. Everybody around the building just kept saying the same thing, just be ready for your moment, and I didn’t know it was going to come today. Like I said all week, if the opportunity presents itself, then I’ll be ready. None of this today still feels real, and even right now it still doesn’t. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can, but at the same time just be cheerful with my brothers and cherish the moments that I have right now before it’s all over.”

Milton showed progress from training camp and the preseason to Sunday’s win over the Bills. He was just 11-of-30 for 152 yards with a passing touchdown in three preseason games this summer.

The Tennessee product mostly worked on the scout team this season with his first first-team practice reps coming this week. He was the team’s emergency third quarterback in each of the Patriots’ first 16 games.

Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who didn’t play Sunday, signed a one-year, $8 million contract this offseason. The Patriots’ new regime must decide if Milton showed enough in Sunday’s win to be counted on as the Patriots’ backup.

He made some impressive plays evading pressure and throwing strikes downfield to wide receivers Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas.

“I don’t think I proved anything to nobody. I think I proved it to myself, like it’s always been, just showing that I’m able to be here, able to play this game, and just showing myself that it’s me,” Milton said. “Without God, I am nothing, so therefore I put everything to him.”

Milton showed off his signature standing backflip to celebrate his passing touchdown to Boutte. He’s been waiting a long time to do it in a game.

“Man, I’ve been waiting to hit a backflip in a game, period, for at least – I want to say whenever the USC player hit the backflip in the end zone, I’ve been wanting to do it ever since that moment but two years prior to that moment,” Milton said. “I was like, man, I can do it. Nobody really expects me to do it, so when I do it, I feel like it’s going to blow up on media. So when I got there in the end zone, I was like, man, nobody is beside me, I think this is my moment. So I just trust it. I did back flips in my past before, especially in fall camp, so I was like, man, it’s time. It’s the perfect time for it.”