Sunday Patriots Notes: Internal search underway to stabilize Patriots offensive line

After a Thursday night trouncing in which the New England Patriots lost 24-3, the team soon returns to work after a long weekend. Head coach Jerod Mayo and his staff face their first challenge in order to now get the train back on the track before a trip out West to take the high-powered San Francisco 49ers .

So, for anything we may have missed over the long weekend, let's open up the notebook in this week's Sunday Patriots Notes.

Jacoby Brissett has spent much of his first three weeks as the Patriots starting quarterback on the ground.

He faced a 45 percent pressure rate in Week 1. That was followed by a 44 percent pressure rate in Week 2. It didn't look like things could get worse, until he faced pressure on 56.5 percent of his drop backs Thursday night.

The result has been an offense that has been unable to move the football through the air, as Brissett has thrown for 368 yards through three weeks.

In the midst of a mini-bye, Jerod Mayo and his offensive coaching staff must now figure out a solution for this offensive line group. The lone problem? Offensive lineman are hard enough to come by in the offseason — as New England found out last spring — and nearly impossible to find at this point in the season.

As an old saying on the back of a hoodie goes, "No one is coming, it's up to us."

"I believe we can correct the problems internally," Mayo told reporters Friday morning. "It comes down to details, and we were not sharp on our details as a unit. That's what the offensive line is. It's not just one person. It's a unit. Being able to see the picture out of the same set of goggles, we just didn't do that last night. I do think it's correctable internally."

Continuity issues have resulted in New England's starting five not seeing things out of the same set of goggles. After Week 1 starting left tackle Chuks Okorafor was benched before leaving the team, Vederian Lowe took his place. Lowe was then injured near the end of Week 2 resulting in rookie Caedan Wallace starting his first career game at left tackle Thursday night.

Wallace was unable to finish the game with a knee injury.

"We had some young guys out there that showed a few different looks that maybe caused some confusion, but the communication as a whole has to be better," Mayo said. "I still have faith in those guys to get the job done. We've got to be very intentional about the way we approach the game and the way we adjust in-game."

With Lowe's injury considered minor and guard Sidy Sow perhaps near a return from an ankle injury that has cost him the first three games of the season, reinforcements may be coming. That could result in a reshuffled starting five up front.

From this point of view, New England should turn the page back to early in the preseason — when Mayo made sure to note the line play was better than it got credit for. The opening two preseason games saw Lowe hold down the blindside, with Sidy Sow, David Andrews, and Mike Onwenu handling the interior.

While Lowe isn't perfect, his size, athleticism, and experience leave him as the best shot on the blindside. Kicking Onwenu, who has had trouble at times in pass protection outside, back to guard would ideally form a formidable interior with Andrews and a healthy Sow or rookie Layden Robinson.

The question then falls to right tackle, where Okorafor was the starter in those opening preseason contests before being flipped to the left side. If Onwenu moves inside, Wallace, if healthy, should be given first shot at right tackle, where he started every game at Penn State.

It may not be perfect or ideal, but that group may be the best five New England can put together internally to try and settle things down — and hopefully paving the way for the team to feel comfortable to insert Drake Maye into the starting lineup.

"I think we'll just continue to get better with the more experience we gain up front, especially from the young guys," offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. "I don't think it's an issue that will linger. I think we'll just continue to get better each week with them."

As the Patriots continue to find the right combination up front with their offensive line, it officially won't include Chuks Okorafor. The tackle was moved from the exempt/left squad list to the reserve/left squad on Thursday which marks the end of his season.

Drake Maye grew up admiring Aaron Rodgers, even having the quarterback on his fantasy football team and phone case for a number of years. In his first time on the opposing sideline as Rodgers in the NFL, the rookie made sure to hang around after the game to meet one of his ideals.

New England will hope Maye, who is learning under Rodgers' former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, can replicate a similar on-field career as the four-time NFL MVP. Owner Robert Kraft is looking forward to the possibility.

"We have excellent people, Eliot Wolf in combination with our head coach, but Eliot really made the [draft] decision," Kraft told NFL on Prime Video prior to the game. "There were three great quarterbacks in the draft and the one we wanted came to us. So, I'm really excited.

According to NextGenStats, the Patriots missed more tackles against the Jets (13) than they did in the first two weeks of the season combined (11). It resulted in an additional 100 yards for the Jets after allowing the fewest yards on missed tackles of any defense through the first two weeks (34).

"The biggest issue was, in my opinion, defensively, tackling. We couldn't tackle, we didn't tackle, and we really haven't had that problem up until this point. So we have to get that corrected," Mayo said.

The tackling issues served as a quick and important reminder on how big of a loss Ja'Whaun Bentley (torn pec) will be in the middle of New England's defense. Raekwon McMillan and Jahlani Tavai saw increased reps off the ball and struggled in the run game while Rodgers had his way attacking the middle of the field through the air.

"Obviously a four-time captain, a leader on our defense, a signal caller, will definitely be missed out there on the field," defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said Friday morning.

"Hopefully everybody's taking their opportunity to the best of their ability so they can go out there and be ready for when things like this happen — they can go help our football team and cause we need that. Injuries are going to happen throughout the year."

Bryce Baringer entered Week 3 as Pro Football Focus' highest graded punter in the league. He backed up his cause Thursday night, as he landed three more punts inside the 20 in his five attempts — to extend his league lead to 10 total I-20s.

"I mean he was undoubtedly like [Thursday] night was our best coverage player because of how well he punted the ball," special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. "He's been a weapon for us, he's been undoubtedly a great weapon for us. I'm encouraged by what I've seen the last three weeks I want to continue to encourage him to continue to progress and help this team out."

Going back to Week 2, a field goal block late in the fourth quarter proved costly in New England's overtime defeat. The breakdown came on the left wing, as tight end Austin Hooper failed to block inside-out as there was concern with 6-foot-4 cornerback Tariq Woolen coming off the edge.

That led to the question as to New England would opt for a personnel change, perhaps deploying a bigger body than Hooper on the wing. On Thursday night, however, the tight end held his usual position on Joey Slye's lone attempt of the night.

The Patriots offensive coordinator search this offseason was extensive. While it ended with the hiring of Alex Van Pelt, former Patriot assistant and current Rams coach Nick Caley also received a contract offer. According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the offer would have made Caley one of the highest paid coordinators in football.

"Nick Caley turned it down, but [it was] a very healthy contract for a first-time coordinator," Breer said on 98.5 The Sports Hub. "Nick got offered almost $3 million a year. So, the fact that you're willing to pay a first-time coordinator that number — that's really, really good number."