FOXBORO — Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is now acknowledging his team’s offensive line woes following Sunday’s overtime loss to the Seahawks.
Mayo said Monday morning in his weekly appearances on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” that the Patriots’ offensive line was “average at best” in the 23-20 loss.
“At best” is doing a lot of work there.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was sacked three times, but he was under pressure on 14 dropbacks against the Seahawks. Through two weeks, he’s faced the NFL’s second-highest pressure rate at 44.3%.
“It doesn’t have to be a sack to affect the passing game,” Mayo said on the radio. “Like, just bodies around the quarterback affect the passing game. So we have to do a better job, you know, just protecting Jacoby, and that’s with the line and the backs and the tight ends as well.”
Mayo had said last week that the group’s deficiencies had been overblown.
Brissett has the NFL’s seventh-lowest pressure-to-sack rate, and he currently ranks 13th out of 32 quarterbacks in PFF’s passing great under pressure, going 8-of-18 for 85 yards with six scrambles for 40 yards.
Brissett has been great at evading pressure and has yet to turn the ball over, but he’s not blameless in the Patriots’ issue with pressure. At 3.25 seconds, he’s second-slowest in time to throw on all dropbacks, including sacks and scrambles. He’s third-slowest, at 2.89 seconds, in time to throw on passing attempts. He’s faced just four pressures in less than 2.5 seconds and 23 pressures in 2.5 seconds or more.
Mayo made sure to praise his team’s run blocking but also raised some concerns over the line’s conditioning.
“Let’s start with the run game. The run game, we talked about being tough and physical up front, I think we’ve showed that in preseason and these first couple of weeks of the regular season. In the pass game, I would say there were spurts of clean pockets, but it needs to be more consistent. I would also say as we got into the second half — I’m not telling you anything you didn’t see — but as we got to the second half, our pass pro broke down a little bit. I still believe that we have a well-conditioned team. But I would say on both sides of the ball yesterday, we saw a lot of hands on hips, but you have to push through that adversity and still be on the same page and ultimately execute.”
Right tackle Mike Onwenu, the Patriots’ highest-paid offensive player, was actually the team’s lowest-graded pass blocker, via PFF, in Sunday’s loss, garnering a 37.9 mark after allowing three pressures, including one QB hit. PFF charged left guard Michael Jordan and right guard Layden Robinson with each allowing a sack. Left tackle Vederian Lowe, who left the game with an injury and was replaced by rookie Caedan Wallace, allowed a team-high four pressures. Center David Andrews let up two pressures, and Wallace was clean in three pass-blocking snaps.
The Patriots could be on their third left tackle in as many weeks Thursday night against the Jets. Chukwuma Okorafor started Week 1 in the Patriots’ win over the Bengals, but he was benched for Lowe 12 snaps into the game. Okorafor left the team on Saturday and was placed on the exempt/left squad list. If Lowe can’t play on Thursday, then the Patriots’ options would be Wallace or Demontrey Jacobs, who was claimed off waivers from the Broncos late last month.
The Patriots have a decision to make at left guard when Sidy Sow is finally ready to return from an ankle injury suffered this summer and whether to start him or keep Jordan at that position. If Onwenu continues to struggle at right tackle, then the Patriots could move him back to guard and put Wallace at right tackle. But Lowe would have to be healthy to accommodate that position switch.
The Patriots also have Nick Leverett on the roster as a backup center and guard, and Zach Thomas, who has played tackle and guard, was claimed off waivers from the Rams in late August.
If the Patriots get desperate, veteran players like David Bakhtiari, Donovan Smith, Duane Brown and Charles Leno are still available as free agents.
Mayo also said Monday that the Patriots “have to find a way to get the ball down the field. We have to find a way to get the ball in our playmakers’ hands.”
That’s difficult when the offensive line is allowing a near-50% pressure rate. Patriots wide receivers have combined for just 85 yards on 11 catches through two games. Slot receiver DeMario Douglas didn’t have an official target in Sunday’s loss. Only rookie Ja’Lynn Polk and veteran K.J. Osborn caught passes among the team’s wide receivers.
The Patriots’ passing attack could improve when rookie Drake Maye is thrust into a starting role, but it seems too risky to put him behind their current offensive line situation.
The offensive line was a concern even before Okorafor decided he was done. Now the issues have only compounded with fewer options to start.
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