FOXBORO — A lot is working against the Patriots’ passing game this season.
Jacoby Brissett is a lower-tier starting quarterback. New England’s receiving corps is among the least imposing in the NFL. Pass protection could be a persistent problem for an unsettled offensive line.
What the Patriots do expect to do well, however, is run the ball.
“I think that’s one of the best things they’ve done throughout the entire camp,” head coach Jerod Mayo said Wednesday. “Hopefully, that continues going forward.”
Mayo and new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt stressed throughout training camp that the run game will be a staple of the Patriots’ offense, which desperately needed retooling after ranking last in points per game in 2023.
“I feel good about the personnel that we have out there,” Mayo said, “and I feel like we have to run the ball as a team going forward to win football games.”
Leading that charge will be fourth-year pro Rhamondre Stevenson, who topped 1,000 rushing yards in 2022 before missing the tail end of last season with an ankle injury. Stevenson has expressed excitement about Van Pelt’s new wide zone rushing scheme, which mirrors the offense he played in at Oklahoma.
Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty round out the Patriots’ running back room.
“We’re very confident,” said Stevenson, who signed a contract extension this summer. “Our linemen have been working very hard giving us lanes, and we’re ready to show that Week 1.”
The makeup of that line is one lingering concern, as starting left guard Sidy Sow is working his way back from an ankle injury. Sow — a locked-in starter throughout camp — suffered the injury in New England’s preseason finale and hasn’t practiced since.
Regardless, Mayo said the Patriots’ goal in this Sunday’s season opener against the Bengals is to control both sides of the line of scrimmage. Cincinnati boasted one of the NFL’s leakiest run defenses last season, and its offense ranked 31st in rushing yards per game.
“I would say on both sides of the ball during preseason, I thought we played physical up front,” Mayo said. “I thought they were able to move bodies and run the football, and we’ll see if that continues going forward.”