Sunday Patriots Notes: Frustration keeps building over state of the O-line

For the sixth time this season, the New England Patriots will play on the road on Sunday. The 2-7 team will take on the 4-4 Bears at Chicago's Soldier Field in a rare matchup between the AFC and NFC franchises.

Naturally, our attention this week centered around that game as well as the NFL trade deadline that came and went on Tuesday. For anything else that came up over the last few days leading up to the Patriots' trip to Chicago, we also have you covered.

Welcome to this week's Sunday Patriots Notes.

Frustration keeps building over state of the O-line On Monday after his team's loss to the Tennessee Titans , Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was asked what the team can do to improve a run game that has struggled to produce consistent results in three straight games. His answer was as simple as it was telling.

"It starts up front," he said.

The Patriots have famously gone through several personnel changes along their offensive line this season, and have yet to find a group that they feel comfortable with. The latest move was hinted at during practice this week, when Michael Onwenu — a starter at both right tackle and right guard so far this season — was moved to the left tackle position.

While it remains to be seen whether or not Onwenu will see any action at the position at some point this season, his usage is a reflection of the team's instability up front as a whole. That instability has some frustration as Mayo himself admitted.

"If I'm being very honest, it's been frustrating throughout the year as far as the different combinations we've had to work through," he said.

"The frustrating part for me has just been the guys in and out of the lineup. Whether it's through injury or whether it's through performance, it's just been a bunch of different things. That's part of football, and that's part of me learning as a head coach. Those things are going to happen. Some years it's worse than others. This year, it's just been hard to get the same group out there every week."

Through nine weeks this season, the Patriots have used eight different starting combinations. Only only group — Vederian Lowe, Michael Jordan, Ben Brown, Michael Onwenu, Demontrey Jacobs — has managed to start two games.

The issues up front are manifold. From center David Andrews suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, to nominal left guard Cole Strange still recovering from a torn patellar tendon suffered last December, to former starting right guard Sidy Sow seemingly struggling to adapt to a new blocking scheme, to free agency pickup Chukwuma Okorafor leaving the team, to performance issues out of several players.

As the Patriots offensive line went south, so did the offense's overall performance. The position group's coach has acknowledged the challenge as well, but he has seemingly adopted a "glass half full" view on the situation.

"I don't spend time getting frustrated, I spend time looking for solutions," said Scott Peters on Friday. "It would be optimal to say that we had continuity because you do get better week by week and guys get used to playing the same position or together, and all that. That's a goal, for sure.

"The benefit of having lots of moving parts is that guys get experience and exposure, and on some level you're building some versatility which is important to have because of the nature of the NFL with all the injuries that go on. On some level you're building something there, but on another level you'd really like to say, 'Hey, let's dig in' and try to see some continuity over the weeks because that's where you see your gains."

So far, any gains have seemingly been counteracted by constant movement. Maybe things will settle down once Cole Strange returns from the physically unable to perform list to start either at left guard or at center, but until then it appears there will be issues.

And frustration.

The good and bad from the first half of the season While the Patriots are already past the halfway point of their own season — such is life under a 17-game format — the transition from Week 9 to Week 10 marked the official move to the back-nine for the league. Given that, we thought now would be a good time to look at some of the positives and negatives of New England's season so far.

Good: Drake Maye's promise. The Patriots officially turned to rookie quarterback Drake Maye ahead of their Week 6 game against the Houston Texans , and he has since shown repeatedly why he was selected third overall in this year's draft. While there have been ups and downs, the arrow is pointing in the right direction.

Bad: Rookie growing pains on and off the field. Overall, the Patriots' rookie class has not necessarily stood out. That is true for the team's first-year players — with the exception being Maye as well as Marcellas Dial and Dell Pettus earning core special teams jobs — as well as the new-look coaching staff led by rookie head coach Jerod Mayo.

Good: Christian Gonzalez's Pro Bowl campaign. After playing just four games last season, Gonzalez is firmly in the NFL Comeback Player of the Year conversation. The sophomore has been New England's best player so far in 2024, and one of the best cornerbacks in football.

Bad: Defensive drop-off. Even with Gonzalez playing quality football, the defense as a whole has not picked up where it left off last year. While personnel losses have played their part — Christian Barmore, Ja'Whaun Bentley, Jabrill Peppers — the unit also has struggled with discipline and fundamentals at times.

Good: Ol' reliable Hunter Henry. The Patriots passing offense is a work in progress, but it can feel good about its starting tight end. Through nine games, Henry is the team's most reliable receiver and is building some promising chemistry with Drake Maye.

Bad: Bryce Baringer wobbles. He may have one of the best natural legs in the NFL, but Patriots punter Bryce Baringer has not had the best season so far. After starting out strongly, he had some issues with directional punting and simply not hitting the ball well enough. The team needs more from him to help flip field position.

Good: Marcus Jones' punt returns. Speaking of field position, Marcus Jones has returned to his All-Pro form as a punt returner. The third-year man is one of the most electrifying players on the team, and a major weapon in the game's third phase.

Bad: Wide receiver vibes. The wide receiver room has had its problems so far this season, and it will be seen how the team will try to solve those. Between performance issues and apparent unhappiness, New England has some work to do to give Drake Maye a supporting cast he can rely on at the position.

That is only a snapshot of what went well for the Patriots, and what didn't. But as can be seen not all was negative despite New England's underwhelming record.

Patriots walking fine line between win-now and win-later The Patriots have acknowledged time and again that they are in the process of building their organization back up after their split with Bill Belichick in January. As a consequence, they will need to find a way to satisfy two needs: play productive football now, and also keep developing players for the future.

According to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, that is a tightrope walk.

"It's a fine line," he said this week. "You want to put your best players out there to win each week. At the same time you want to bring along your guys that you think have a future. So, it's really an opportunity for those guys to go out and showcase are they're going to be a part of us moving forward.

"There is that fine line of playing the veteran guys and then not developing the young guys, but we're attempting to develop the young guys throughout the course of the season and that's where we are right now."

Drake Maye is the most productive scrambler in the NFL Last week against Tennessee, Drake Maye had one of the best rushing performances of any Patriots quarterback. Gaining 95 yards on the ground, his performance ranks third in franchise history. All of that production, of course happened on scrambles rather than designed runs — quite the show of confidence one week after suffering a concussion on a scramble drill.

In general, Maye has been fabulous attacking defenses with his legs. Through nine weeks, he ranks first in the NFL in expected points added via scramble: his +20.5 clearly has the next players — Jalen Hurts (+12.1), Joe Burrow (+11.9) beat in that category.

His almost 10 yards per carry also stand out.

Will the Patriots use him on some designed runs, though? Not in the immediate future, according to Jerod Mayo.

"He was in the concussion protocol not too long ago, and I'm not looking forward to designing quarterback runs for him at this present time," Mayo said. "But who knows? Look, he's a rookie, and he'll continue to evolve as a player as well."

Fines keep racking up for Keion White Keion White is not just the Patriots' leader in sacks entering Week 10, he also has racked up the most fine money of all of the team's players. Adding $22,511 for an unnecessary roughness penalty last week versus the Titans, he now stands at a monetary loss of $42,183 on the year.

Not necessarily a category you want to lead the team in, but one the sophomore defensive lineman has a firm grasp on so far.

Patriots hope to get Sione Takitaki 'rolling' The Patriots' linebacker group has had its problems this season, especially after losing captain Ja'Whaun Bentley to a season-ending pectoral injury. In order to turn things around, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington looks at one player in particular: Sione Takitaki.

"He just started practicing a couple weeks ago. When you have a player who just got off injury and hasn't been with us in previous years; just trying to find his role and develop that role, and then be great in that role, and have the opportunities in practice to do it, so he can do it in the game. That's really the deal," Covington said.

"He's doing a good job of learning the playbook, doing a good job of making sure he puts his best foot forward on special teams and on defense. We're looking forward to getting him rolling. We need him to get rolling."

Takitaki joined the Patriots via a two-year free agency deal in March, in hopes of serving as a top three player at the position alongside Bentley and Jahlani Tavai. However, an offseason knee scope put him behind schedule and forced the team to give bigger roles to the likes of Christian Elliss and Raekwon McMillan.

With McMillan getting released earlier this week and Elliss out against the Bears due to an abdominal injury, Takitaki might see his most prominent action as a Patriot yet on Sunday.

Drake Maye and Caleb Williams go way back... Patriots QB Drake Maye and his Bears counterpart Caleb Williams both entered the NFL as first-round draft picks this spring. Maye was picked third overall, with Williams being the top selection.

Based on their draft history, the two men and their careers will forever be linked. That is nothing new for the two, though, as Maye said this week.

"Really, with Caleb, I've seen him since high school," he said. "We'd go to the same camps. We were at the Elite 11 with each other. We got some college visits together. So, the whole thing, going through the process again. We kept up with each other in college. We were friends, and I enjoyed watching him do his thing.

"Now I get a chance to compete. So, anytime you're going against a rookie quarterback in the same class, or any quarterback in your class in general, it's a little extra."

...as do Taylor Embree and Marcedes Lewis A different sort of connection between New England and Chicago exists in the form of Patriots running backs coach Taylor Embree and Bears tight end Marcedes Lewis. Despite still being an active player, the latter is four years Embree's senior.

In fact, the 40-year-old Lewis used to baby-sit the 36-year-old Embree around 20 years ago.

"My dad coached Marcedes at UCLA. It is funny, he and Maurice Drew[-Jones] used to baby-sit us on the ball games, and he's still playing," Embree said this week. "My dad would drop us off, and we'd play games, and he's still going."

Ex-Patriots in the spotlight in Week 10 While our eyes will be on the Patriots' game against the Bears, we'd be remiss not to talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars ' home contest against the Minnesota Vikings . The game, after all, will be Mac Jones' first start since leaving New England via trade this offseason. With Trevor Lawrence unable to participate in the contest because of a shoulder injury, the fourth-year man will get his first shot as a starter in a year.

Jones will not be the only player worth keeping an eye on, though. The same is true for Matthew Judon, whose Atlanta Falcons will play the New Orleans Saints . Part of a training camp trade from New England, Judon saw his role decrease last week due to an apparent lack of production.

Setting up the week ahead The Patriots will stay on a 1 p.m. schedule following Sunday's game against the Bears. The only difference is that their upcoming Week 11 contest versus the Los Angeles Rams will take place at Gillette Stadium again

Leading up to that contest, New England will go through its usual routine. Post-game wrap up and some media availability Monday, players day off on Tuesday, practice plus injury reports Wednesday through Friday, followed by a pre-game walkthrough on Saturday.