The Patriots were forced to scramble at safety after starter Jabrill Peppers was arrested early Saturday morning and ruled out of Week 5 later in the afternoon.
The Patriots later ruled safety Kyle Dugger (ankle) inactive on Sunday morning, thrusting Marte Mapu, Jaylinn Hawkins and undrafted rookie Dell Pettus into key roles.
Mapu and Hawkins both played all 79 of the Patriots’ defensive snaps in career highs. Pettus also played a career-high 54 defensive snaps.
“It was very encouraging. Those guys grew up yesterday, so I like the way they played,” head coach Jerod Mayo said Monday. “Hopefully here going forward, they continue to develop at that at that pace. With Dugger’s injury, and what Pep’s going through right now, we’re going to need guys to step up. I thought they did that yesterday. It wasn’t perfect, but I thought they played hard. I thought they did what we asked them to do, and it’s something to build off of.”
Mapu, who spent the first four weeks of the season on injured reserve nursing a training camp calf injury, also wore the green dot as the Patriots’ defensive signal-caller in his return. It was the 2023 third-round pick’s second career start. He allowed six catches on six targets for 51 yards, per PFF, while playing a hybrid role as a safety, linebacker and in the slot.
Hawkins, who primarily worked at free safety, didn’t allow a catch and helped prevent game-breaking plays from Dolphins wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Each receiver only had one 20-yard catch.
Pettus played free safety, strong safety and in the slot. He let up one catch on two targets for 13 yards.
Hawkins and Pettus finished tied for second on team with eight tackle apiece. Hawkins contributed a tackle for loss, while Mapu also had a pass breakup.
