Patriots fans are wondering what’s next after a panic-inducing performance on Thursday night against the Jets.
Will the Patriots pursue outside help on the offensive line? Can a rookie wide receiver give the Patriots a boost? When will the Patriots make a quarterback change?
We’ll answer those and more in this week’s mailbag.
@_joshuaterry
Do you foresee them bringing in any free agents to try to help out the offensive line?
The top available veteran offensive linemen with experience at left tackle are David Bakhtiari, Donovan Smith, Charles Leno Jr., D.J. Humphries and Duane Brown.
Personally, I would give Smith, Leno or Humphries a call to see if they’re healthy and interested in signing and coming in for a workout or visit. I don’t necessarily foresee that happening, however. I don’t sense a lot of interest from the Patriots.
Head coach Jerod Mayo even went on record saying, “I believe we can correct the problems internally.”
The Patriots signed Chukwuma Okorafor and drafted Caedan Wallace with the idea that either player might be athletic enough to move from right tackle to left tackle. The experiment didn’t work. Okorafor started Week 1 and lasted 12 snaps before getting benched for Vederian Lowe. Lowe got injured in Week 2, forcing Wallace to start in Week 3. Wallace got hurt and was replaced by Demontrey Jacobs after allowing three pressures with a sack.
Thus starts another week with massive questions at left tackle. Are Lowe or Wallace healthy enough to start? If not, Jacobs, who was claimed off waivers from the Broncos in late August, would be the fourth starter in four weeks.
Leno, 32, was the 19th-highest-graded pass blocker last season on PFF with a 77.8 mark. Humphries, 30, was 36th with a 68.4 grade. Smith, 31, was 58th with a 62.2 mark but also started in the Super Bowl for the championship Chiefs.
Sure, there’s a reason why all five of the aforementioned veteran tackles are free agents. No one else has been interested in signing them either.
But the Patriots’ offensive line situation is incomparable. And if the state of the line would give the coaching staff pause about starting Drake Maye at quarterback, then it needs to be amended.
@lpzak44
What am I missing when it comes to Baker not seeing the field? I get that the ball has to come out fast or not at all behind this OLine and we’re a tight end team but talented wide receivers should be given a chance. He hasn’t caught his first career ball yet. Why draft him then?
Patriots fourth-round pick Javon Baker had a strong start to training camp but really fell off and dropped down the depth chart by the end of the summer. There were multiple instances of miscommunication, and Baker was having drop issues.
I don’t blame the Patriots for limiting Baker’s playing time early this season. There are enough problems with the passing game before having to worry if one of the wide receivers knows the playbook well enough.
Ja’Lynn Polk and DeMario Douglas both were playing better than Baker by the end of the summer, and look how little production they’ve had so far.
Douglas has nine catches for 81 yards, and Polk has five catches for 31 yards and a touchdown. Let’s see if they can get more heavily involved before we start worrying about Baker.
@MP82971
What in the actual (expletive)?! That’s my question. Thanks in advance, Doug.
It’s a fair question. And honestly, I don’t really know.
The Patriots were much more competitive than anyone expected them to be in Weeks 1 and 2 and then laid a complete egg and looked like the team everyone expected them to be heading into the season in their Week 3 loss to the Jets.
So now we’ll see who the Patriots really are in Week 4 against the 49ers and Week 5 against the Dolphins.
The 49ers are a major test, even without Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel. The Dolphins have a talented roster even without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
I do believe there were extenuating circumstances Thursday night against the Jets. The Patriots were starting their third left tackle in as many weeks, and it was a short week.
Realistically, the Patriots are probably as bad as what we saw on Thursday night, because the Jets were missing key pieces, as well. But we’ll find out for sure against the 49ers and Dolphins.
@SoxPatsCsplswin
What week would you start Drake Maye. I like week 9 vs the titans
I would consider it as early as Week 5 against the Dolphins. Week 7 in London against the Jaguars doesn’t look like a terrible matchup, either.
But in all reality, it might not be a choice to start Maye, it might be a necessity. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was slower and slower and slower to get up after every hit he took against the Jets. Hopefully, Brissett stays healthy, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before there’s some sort of upper-body injury. He’s taking some really hard shots to his chest and ribs.
The Patriots’ offensive line has struggled, but we haven’t seen what the unit looks like with Lowe at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Layden Robinson at right guard and Mike Onwenu at right tackle. Lowe and Sow replacing Wallace and Michael Jordan isn’t all of a sudden going to make them a group of All-Pros, but it might not hurt to help protect Brissett or Maye.
