Patriots vs. Jets snap counts: Drake Maye debut overshadows concerns elsewhere

Down 24-3 in the fourth quarter of their Thursday night game against the New York Jets , the New England Patriots decided to hand the keys to the offense over to Drake Maye. The third overall selection in this year's draft was inserted into the lineup with 4:24 left in the game, and ended up playing the first 16 regular season snaps of his career.

From a statistical perspective, Maye's performance was rather uneventful. He went 4-for-8 as a passer for 22 yards, was sacked twice, and carried the ball two times for 12 yards.

Nonetheless, given his status as the Patriots' quarterback of the future it was no surprise that his debut overshadowed some of the other developments. Among them was the team having to dig deep into its roster in order to stay afloat through another wave of injuries.

Among the most notable players going down were safety Jabrill Peppers, as well as starting offensive linemen Caedan Wallace and Michael Jordan. Peppers was in and out of the lineup for the rest of the game, but neither Wallace nor Jordan were able to finish the contest. As a result of their departures, post-cutdown waiver claims Demontrey Jacobs and Zachary Thomas saw their first action along the New England O-line.

Jacobs ended up playing 14 snaps at left tackle, with Thomas playing 21 at left guard (plus two more as a jumbo tight end). Late in their third game of the season, the Patriots therefore were down to their option at fourth left tackle and their third at left guard.

The offensive line is a concern in New England for multiple reasons, and continuous personnel hits is high up on the list.

With that said, here is our full snap count report from the Patriots' loss to the Jets.

Total snaps: 52 | Time on the field: 18:55

C David Andrews (52; 100%), RG Layden Robinson (52; 100%), RT Michael Onwenu (52; 100%), WR DeMario Douglas (43; 83%), WR K.J. Osborn (39; 75%), LT Caedan Wallace (38; 73%), QB Jacoby Brissett (36; 69%), TE Hunter Henry (33; 63%), LG Michael Jordan (31; 60%), TE Austin Hooper (30; 58%), WR Ja'Lynn Polk (26; 50%), RB Rhamondre Stevenson (24; 46%), LG/TE Zachary Thomas (23; 44%), RB Antonio Gibson (19; 37%), WR Kayshon Boutte (18; 35%), WR Tyquan Thornton (17; 33%), QB Drake Maye (16; 31%), LT Demontrey Jacobs (14; 27%), RB JaMycal Hasty (9; 17%)

*denotes starter

Outside of the right side of the offensive line, no member of the Patriots offense went wire-to-wire on Thursday night. Right behind them as snap leader among the skill position players was DeMario Douglas, whose frustration seemingly led to the team actively trying to get him involved more; he ended up gaining 78 yards on eight touches.

For a second straight game, the Patriots used Douglas, K.J. Osborn and Ja'Lynn Polk as their top three receivers. Tyquan Thornton, on the other hand, was relegated to No. 5 on the depth chart behind Kayshon Boutte.

Elsewhere on the offensive roster, the Patriots continued using their personnel in the established fashion. Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are the top tight ends, with Rhamondre Stevenson the No. 1 running back.

Of course, Stevenson has now fumbled the ball in three straight games. And as the old saying goes, "Ball security is job security."

Total snaps: 73 | Time on the field: 39:26

LB/ED Jahlani Tavai (73; 100%), S Kyle Dugger (73; 100%), CB Christian Gonzalez (71; 97%), DE/ED Keion White (61; 84%), S Jabrill Peppers (57; 78%), LB Raekwon McMillan (53; 73%), DT Daniel Ekuale (53; 73%), DT Davon Godchaux (51; 70%), CB Jonathan Jones (50; 68%), CB Marcus Jones (46; 63%), ED Anfernee Jennings (42; 58%), DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (35; 48%), S Jaylinn Hawkins (31; 42%), ED Joshua Uche (31; 42%), DE/ED Deatrich Wise Jr. (30; 41%), CB Alex Austin (14; 19%), DT Eric Johnson (11; 15%), LB Joe Giles-Harris (9; 12%), S Dell Pettus (8; 11%), CB Marcellas Dial Jr. (2; 3%), LB Christian Elliss (2; 3%)

*denotes starter

With starting linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley out for the season due to a torn pectoral muscle, the Patriots turned to Jahlani Tavai and Raekwon McMillan to replace him. For the former, this meant more snaps off the ball compared to his first two games: Tavai, who also served as defensive on-field signal caller, aligned as off the line on 55 of his 73 snaps for a rate of 75 percent — a clear increase over the 59 percent rate he saw in both Weeks 1 and 2.

The Patriots also had to replace Oshane Ximines on the edge, and they did so by primarily using Anfernee Jennings and Joshua Uche as the top options. Uche in particular saw an increase in opportunities, playing a season-high 42 percent of snaps.

In the backend, the Patriots relied heavily on safety Kyle Dugger and Christian Gonzalez as their top options at safety and cornerback, respectively. The aforementioned Jabrill Peppers missing time due to injury created an opportunity for Dell Pettus to see some snaps in the secondary as well.

Alex Austin, meanwhile, replaced Marco Wilson as the fourth member of the cornerback rotation with rookie Marcellas Dial Jr. also chipping in a handful of snaps. As for Austin, he played his first 14 snaps of the season, including one that saw him miss a crucial tackle on Allen Lazard catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter.

Special Teams Total snaps: 21 | Time on the field: 1:39

CB Marcellas Dial Jr. (20; 95%), S Brenden Schooler (20; 95%), LB Christian Elliss (19; 90%), S Jaylinn Hawkins (15; 71%), LB Joe Giles-Harris (14; 67%), LB Raekwon McMillan (13; 62%), S Dell Pettus (12; 57%), LB Jahlani Tavai (11; 52%), RB/KR JaMycal Hasty (8; 38%), S Kyle Dugger (7; 33%), LB Curtis Jacobs (7; 33%), DE Keion White (6; 29%), DT Daniel Ekuale (6; 29%), DT Davon Godchaux (6; 29%), ED Anfernee Jennings (6; 29%), DE Deatrich Wise Jr. (6; 29%), P/H Bryce Baringer (6; 29%), WR Javon Baker (6; 29%), LS Joe Cardona (6; 29%), RB Antonio Gibson (5; 24%), DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (5; 24%), CB Jonathan Jones (3; 14%), CB Marcus Jones (3; 14%), CB Alex Austin (3; 14%), TE Jaheim Bell (3; 14%), K Joey Slye (3; 14%), S Jabrill Peppers (2; 10%), ED Joshua Uche (2; 10%), G Layden Robinson (1; 5%), OT Michael Onwenu (1; 5%), OT Caedan Wallace (1; 5%), G Michael Jordan (1; 5%), TE Austin Hooper (1; 5%), G Zachary Thomas (1; 5%), DT Eric Johnson (1; 5%), OL Nick Leverett (1; 5%)

In terms of personnel usage, New England's special teams operation looked a lot like it had the first two weeks of the season. However, with Ximines being unavailable the Patriots had to replace a four-unit player. They did so by elevating Joe Giles-Harris from the practice squad, and promptly using him on both return and both coverage teams.

Another player worth pointing out is Austin Hooper, who was responsible for giving up the blocked field goal last week against Seattle. Despite the miscue, he remained in his position as a left-side protector.

Did not play N/A

For the first time all year, the Patriots decided to use every player on their game day roster on Thursday. The game's blowout nature contributed to that decision, but so did the injuries suffered by the team.

LB Ja'Whaun Bentley, DE Jamree Kromah, OT Vederian Lowe, QB Joe Milton III (emergency QB), G Sidy Sow, CB Marco Wilson

New England's inactives list on Thursday featured no real surprises. Ja'Whaun Bentley as well as Vederian Lowe and Sidy Sow were all ruled out before the trip to New Jersey; Jamree Kromah was signed off the Chicago Bears ' practice squad on the eve of the game; Joe Milton has been entrenched into the third quarterback spot ever since roster cutdowns.

The only real uncertainty was the status of Marco Wilson. After serving as the No. 4 cornerback the first two games of the season, his spot in the lineup went to Alex Austin.