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Mike Reiss, editor at ESPN
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Quick thoughts and notes on the New England Patriots and the NFL:
1. OL and Maye: Rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s second outing ended with a painful thud when Eagles outside linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. rammed him from the blind side in a violent collision. Smith’s momentum caused him to land on top of Maye.
On an overall promising night for the No. 3 pick in the draft, the play brought to mind one of the questions the Patriots are still asking themselves as they consider when they can safely hand him over the reins.
Have they done enough to support him?
Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf has spoken numerous times about the importance of providing the necessary infrastructure to help a rookie quarterback succeed, especially after being on the staff during the final years of Bill Belichick’s tenure and witnessing the damaging impact the failure to do so had on quarterback Mac Jones.
There are many ways to provide that support, and one of the most obvious is a solid offensive line, which the Patriots struggle to achieve.
Among their biggest concerns is the backup center spot, due in part to 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Andrews being out for the season with an unspecified injury. They botched three center/quarterback swaps in Thursday’s 14-13 loss to the Eagles, which head coach Jerod Mayo called one of the biggest disappointments of the night. The lack of depth at the position limits starter David Andrews’ playing time.
Mayo also bluntly criticized the state of the offensive line, saying, “There’s a dramatic drop in performance between the first line and the second and third line guys – not really physically, but just in terms of knowing what to do.”
After 15 training sessions in the training camp and two preparation games, the question seems justified as to whether Wolf and his staff have done enough to address what was also a problem area last season, whether they now need to tackle the problem more aggressively and whether that is even realistic given the possibilities.
The Patriots are committed to holding on to their interior team of left guard Sidy Sow, center David Andrews and right guard Mike Onwenu. They were definitely aggressive in re-signing Onwenu as a free agent for three years and $57 million.
Meanwhile, free agent Chukwuma Okorafor (one year, $4 million) has established himself at the top spot as right tackle with mixed results, while much-maligned third-year player Vederian Lowe has been the best left tackle in 10 of 15 practices. It was a miscommunication between Lowe and chipping running back Kevin Harris that led to Maye being pressured in his final game on Thursday night.
“You never want to see your quarterback make a lot of throws in a game, but that’s part of the game,” Mayo said. “That’s what makes quarterbacks so special – the ones that can take a hit, get right back up and move on to the next play.”
That’s true, but too many hits on a rookie quarterback can also cause longer-term trauma that negatively impacts his development. Tim Couch of the Browns (No. 1 pick in 1999) and David Carr of the Texans (No. 1 pick in 2002) — who were sacked 56 and 72 times, respectively, in their rookie seasons — are the two most commonly cited examples in this regard.
Looking back at the Patriots’ potential offseason moves, the free agent tackle class wasn’t exactly loaded with options. As Director of Player Personnel Matt Groh said a few seasons ago, “There aren’t many teams in the league that aren’t looking for tackles.”
Former Bengal Jonah Williams, who signed a two-year, $30 million deal with the Cardinals, would have been an option. Former Cowboy Tyron Smith, who landed with the Jets on a one-year, $6.5 million deal, is another option — though there’s no guarantee he would have been part of a restructure. Jermaine Eluemunor, who played for the Patriots in 2019-20, landed with the Giants (two years, $14 million) when he followed his position coach Carmen Bricillo there.
Among the players currently available is 31-year-old veteran Donovan Smith. He started 12 games at left tackle for the Super Bowl champion Chiefs last season.
The Patriots could also look for solutions inside by moving Onwenu back to the right tackle position, Okorafor to the left tackle position (not a sure thing), and fourth-round pick Layden Robinson to right guard. Or they could go back to third-round pick Caedan Wallace, who was the best left tackle for four practices at the start of training camp, and see how he responds to the challenge.
If this remains the status quo, as the big hit to Maye on Thursday night showed, one could argue that Maye’s inclusion in the team should be postponed until things calm down – if they ever do.
2. Benefits for the ox: If there’s one player who benefits most from Matthew Judon being traded to the Falcons for a 2025 third-round pick, it’s likely fifth-year outside linebacker Oshane Ximines, who was a player on the fence at the start of training camp. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Ximines was named by defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. as someone the team would rely on to fill Judon’s void, along with Keion White, Anfernee Jennings and Joshua Uche.
“Ox has been great,” added outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins. “He came here, learned the playbook quickly, approached everything with humility – a guy who wants to run, create the advantage and do the dirty work. He fits perfectly in this defense.”
3. Batsman No. 3: All teams must trim their rosters from 90 to 53 players by 4 p.m. on August 27, but some of those changes will happen sooner. The Patriots have the third-highest priority in the waiver order and given some obvious needs on the roster (e.g. offensive line, defensive tackle, tight end, etc.), this creates a critical period for the team’s professional staff, led by Patrick Stewart and Sam Fiorini, to add roster-worthy players from teams that may not have had room for them due to depth.
4. Brissett’s status: As important as Maye’s development is to the future of the franchise, it can’t be overlooked that the Patriots need to make veteran Jacoby Brissett work even longer in the final game of the preseason to gain momentum for the regular season. In four drives this preseason, he has completed 3 of 10 passes for 17 yards, with a costly interception in the end zone.
“Obviously a lot of room for growth,” Brissett said.
Key points from Jerod Mayo:
🏈 The entire offensive must be used in the last preparation game
🏈 “The competition for the QB1 spot is not over yet”
🏈 3 QB/C exchange issues cause concern
🏈 Joey Slye vs. Chad Ryland “still uncertain”
🏈 Centre-back Jon Jones/Marcus Jones “close to returning”
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) 16 August 2024
5. Central defenders seek consistency: The Patriots know they have the top group in their cornerback rankings with Jonathan Jones, Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones, but after that it’s a developing picture led by Marco Wilson, Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, Shaun Wade and Marcellas Dial Jr. and at this point no one can pull away.
“The frustrating thing is it depends on what day you look out there,” Mayo said. “It goes up and down, up and down, and this league is about consistency.”
6. Slye’s Gate: Mayo said the kicker competition between veteran Joey Slye and incumbent Chad Ryland is “still up in the air” — an unintentional but well-played pun. Slye has shown an upward trend in recent days, reflected in 51- and 45-yard field goals on Thursday night. Overall, Slye has made 29 of 35 targets in training camp/preseason, while Ryland has made 29 of 34 targets.
Slye said his goal isn’t just to show he’s deserving of one of the NFL’s 32 kicker jobs. “I want to be in the top five in the league in that category,” he said. “I feel like I’ve shown that at certain times. At other times, I haven’t.”
7. Barmore lifts the mood: Defensive lineman Christian Barmore, who the team previously announced was diagnosed with blood clots, appeared at practice for the first time as a spectator on Tuesday. That lifted the players’ spirits, and veteran defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said they stayed in touch through a D-line group chat, but seeing him in person was uplifting. “I told him, ‘Come by more often. We miss you,'” Godchaux said.
8. They said it: “I’m in my eighth year now, so I definitely have a lot of knowledge that I try to pass on to the young guys. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career that I want to teach them so they don’t make the same mistakes that I did. My special teams coach (Thomas McGaughey) always said there are two types of knowledge – borrowed and bought. Borrowed means you learn from other people’s mistakes, and bought means you make the mistake and learn from it. So I try to give them a lot of knowledge that they can borrow from, but at the end of the day, experience is the best teacher.” – Patriots veteran safety Jabrill Peppers on his role as a leader
9. Captains at the coin toss: The Patriots have not yet named their captains for the 2024 season, but Andrews and safety Kyle Dugger represented the team on the first pitch in the season opener, and Thursday night only Andrews was in attendance. A reminder for any occasions when official captains are announced – Mayo has previously said he generally prefers a smaller number.
10. Did you know? The Patriots have recorded 10 total sacks through their first two preseason games, albeit against reserve players. Eight different players have recorded at least one sack, with Ximines and Wise Jr. tied for the team lead with two sacks each.
