“It all starts” with the offensive line, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones openly and honestly declared during his press conference with the gathered media following training camp practice Monday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
The third-year passer stated the offensive obvious as rain poured down on him much the way New England’s own Matt Judon-led pass rush has been raining down on Jones seemingly way too often during practice action over the last two weeks.
Yet, this was Jones’ assessment of the offensive line in front of him these days, a makeshift collection of bodies that both fans and media alike would probably need a roster to recognize.
“I think the offensive line is doing great,” Jones said, whistling past the pass protection graveyard that’s seen him sacked, hurried and harried regularly this summer. “I think right now, obviously there’s some injuries and stuff, but those guys are doing a great job trying to fight to keep the pocket clean, and it all starts with those guys. I feel like they’ve made a lot of progress. Coach [Adrian] Klemm and Coach Billy [Yates] have done a great job just kind of explaining everything to them.”
Certainly the hope is that the group that’s in front of Jones these August days won’t be anything like the one he’ll work behind come the Sept. 10 opener against an Eagles team that led the NFL in sacks a year ago by a wide margin.
Left tackle Trent Brown is currently being managed through an undisclosed injury and has yet to really practice. Cole Strange is dealing with a left leg injury suffered midway through camp. Michael Onwenu is on PUP as he returns from injury. Calvin Anderson remains on NFI. Even David Andrews, the one real mainstay in the middle of the group this summer, has missed some practice time.
That’s left a line in front of Jones, from left to right of late, made up of journeyman veteran Riley Reiff, fifth-round rookie Atonio Mafi, Andrews, former practice squader Cody Russey and journeyman Conor McDermott. Calling it a questionable group would be kind. And the Patriots defense has taken full advantage on the practice field, too many times Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks under pressure before they can even get to and through their reads or progressions.
But Jones, who’s been very much upbeat and positive this offseason by admitted design, doesn’t sound worried. He thinks his linemen are doing “great” and he actually sounds somewhat believable when he says it.
“We’ve got a lot of veterans, but we also have a lot of young guys who haven’t played as much. It's just good to see them come together, and you never know when there’s going to be an injury in a game,” Jones said, clearly alluding to the key missing personnel. “You’ve just got to make it work; the five that are in there have to work together, and I feel like they’re doing a great job. I feel like back there in practice, they’re doing good. A game is a game, so we’ve got to see what everybody’s made of there.”
Jones is in a make-or-break year in his franchise QB development. Questions will come about whether he’s good enough or measures up to his contemporaries at the position. There will also be plenty of questions about his cast of weapons, and whether there is enough talent there for Bill O’Brien to piece together a good-enough passing attack in a pass-first league.
But all those questions won’t get answered until the current and obvious questions about the offense line get figured out.
For his part, as arguably not just the most important member of the line but maybe the most critical guy on the team, Brown “absolutely” plans on being healthy and ready to play in the opener. The hope is likely the same for Strange and Onwenu, which would leave plenty of bodies to battle for the remaining open spot at right tackle. If that happens, the questions and concerns can melt into the forgotten summer.
And like Jones, Brown isn’t sounding the alarm of concern for the missing bodies and missing reps right now.
“It’s not like there’s a lot of continuity, but I feel like we do a lot of work outside of just practice and just hanging around one another,” Brown said optimistically of the line. “I think it’s going to be a plug-and-play situation, next man up mentality. And I think we’ll be fine.”
Fine. Maybe. Sounds good, in theory in August. But September and game action are on the challenging horizon.
It’s admirable that Jones doesn’t sound worried about his offensive line. But he probably should be. Because his career could be on the line, literally.