On Monday, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo joined The Greg Hill Show for his weekly appearance as a part of WEEI’s “Patriots Monday” coverage.
He was less than 24 hours removed from the Patriots’ fifth straight loss, losing 41-21 to the Houston Texans (5-1) at Gillette Stadium.
But even in defeat, New England fans came out of yesterday with a positive outlook on things to come for this team, as rookie Drake Maye showed flashes of brilliance in his debut at the new starting quarterback.
Maye ended the day 20 of 33 for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also was the team’s leading rusher, carrying the ball 5 times for 38 yards.
Most importantly, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was willing to open up the playbook for the first time all season. While it took him until the final possession of the first half to do so, from then on, it looked like a completely different offense than what we saw through the first five weeks of the season with nine-year veteran Jacoby Brissett at the helm.
In Maye’s first career start, the offense threw for more touchdowns and scored more points than it did in any of Brissett’s five starts this season.
WEEI’s Jermaine Wiggins asked Mayo, “When you look at [Maye] with his ability, is this something that maybe we see Alex Van Pelt say, ‘OK, we’re going to try to utilize his legs a little bit more with more designed RPOs,’ or whether it’s designed bootlegs and nakeds, or maybe he can maybe open up the playbook in other areas because of just his athletic skillset versus Jacoby?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Mayo. “And I know, you know, people talk about, ‘We need more creative plays,’ and things like that. But going back to the offensive line, we still have not settled on an offensive line.
“I know the focus is always on the quarterback and what he can understand. And Drake is a very smart person. Now in saying that, you know, it’s not just him out there on the field. There’s also other guys out there that need to be on the same page. But I do think going forward, hopefully the O-line kind of settles down, even though we lost [Vederian] Lowe yesterday.
“Hopefully when that starts to settle down, we can start adding new plays in there, and that comes just from practicing together with the same group.”
WEEI’s Greg Hill followed up, asking Mayo, “So with an offensive line that has played together consistently, you feel like you can get more creative when it comes to the play calling?”
“One hundred percent,” said Mayo. “But again, it’s not just what Drake knows, it’s what everyone knows. And going back - not to use his name again - but going back to Ben Brown. I mean, how much stuff can you put in in five days and expect him to go out there and perform?”
Brown was the starting center on Sunday, having only just been signed by the team from the Raiders’ practice squad on Wednesday. He started in place of Nick Leverett, who had been anointed as the team's new starting center ahead of Week 5 after David Andrews was ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
Leverett had a bad showing in that 15-10 loss to the Dolphins, and was surprisingly benched in favor of Brown for Week 6. On Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that New England would be releasing Leverett all together, as it appears Brown will be the man in the middle moving forward.
Whether through a rash of injuries, players quitting the team, or guys just not being good enough to see the field, the Patriots offensive line has been by far and away the biggest issue with this team in 2024.
Mayo told the show that these issues along the O-line were the main reason for holding Maye out of the lineup until Week 6.
With that said, Mayo made it clear that they were always going to play the rookie QB at some point this season, regardless of how things looked with Brissett under center.
“From a roster standpoint, just in general - especially with our younger players - we had to see what we have this year, no matter what the record is,” said Mayo. “When we get out of this season, we need to know exactly what we have from a talent standpoint, and then fill the holes that we need to fill.
“So just to answer your question - I mean, I don’t know when Drake was going to play. Look, if we were undefeated at this point in time, he could ride it out a little bit longer, if we’re protecting the quarterback at this time, maybe. But in saying that, I think you got to get a guy like that out there.”
So as the offensive line goes, the playbook goes for Van Pelt.
Hopefully he saw enough in Week 6 to allow for more explosive plays in Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5), who are coming off a 35-16 loss to the Bears in London.
Jaguars will remain in the U.K. to prepare for the Patriots, and are currently listed as 5-and-a-half-point favorites at both BetMGM and FanDuel.