FOXBORO, Mass. — Jerod Mayo stood next to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt at midfield, whistles around both of their necks, trying to comprehend how the New England Patriots offense had just been so thoroughly dominated.
Mayo wanted to bring in another team for a joint practice, which they did with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday. He called it “a measuring stick.”
But what Tuesday’s session revealed was what has become the unfortunate reality for the Patriots with around three weeks remaining until their season opener: that the team’s offense, at least right now, is really, really bad.
As we reflect on Tuesday’s practice with the Eagles, let’s start there.
1. The offense is in trouble
No one expected great things from the New England offense this year. The hope was that simply having competent quarterback play would make for an improvement over a year ago. If the Pats could have, say, the 20th-ranked offense and pair that with a top-five defense, the season would be more interesting — and presumably successful — than 2023.
But after a strong showing in seven-on-seven drills Tuesday, the Patriots offense was thoroughly outplayed by the Eagles in full-team drills.
Neither Patriots quarterback (Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye) completed more than 50 percent of his passes in 11-on-11, and most of the completions were simple, underneath routes that gained limited yardage.
At the center of the problem is the brutal combination of a bad offensive line and bad wide receivers. The line can’t block long enough for receivers to get open, and the receivers aren’t good enough to quickly get open to make up for the bad O-line.
Dime 😮💨@DrakeMaye2 | @jpolk_22 pic.twitter.com/NtrmCD0tzc
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 13, 2024
2. Drake Maye had no chance
At the end of practice, the teams went through a simulated drill, the most important part of the session. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye was to run the two-minute offense to try to score a game-winning touchdown.
There’s no tackling in these drills, but Maye would’ve been sacked on the first two plays. On the third, when he did get time to throw, no one got open and he ended up tossing the ball incomplete in the direction of Kayshon Boutte.
If there was live tackling, Maye would’ve been sacked five times on his final six dropbacks — and six times in his final nine dropbacks. Still, he refused to throw his O-line under the bus.
“Gotta get the ball out,” Maye said afterward.
GO DEEPER
From driveway ‘King of the Court’ to Patriots’ future, Drake Maye was built to compete
3. It’s still sloppy
Perhaps the most maddening part of the offense is the silly mistakes that continue to be routine. The unit had three false starts, had to re-huddle on another play and had multiple other penalties, including two holdings and one offensive pass interference.
Yes, the Patriots offense is undermanned, especially against a team like the Eagles that boasts one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. That’s why some of the pressures can be excused.
But there’s no excuse for the fundamental mistakes the offense consistently makes. This group can’t afford penalties like false starts that put them behind schedule, especially when each yard is already such a chore to gain.
4. The receivers have issues
At this point, the Patriots only have two wide receivers you’d feel OK about entering the season. Demario Douglas, now that he’s back and healthy, is everywhere in practice. With the O-line struggling, the offense is centered around hitting Douglas on underneath routes and hoping he can make plays after the catch.
Rookie Ja’Lynn Polk is the other receiver who has consistently had positive moments. He hauled in a great catch in one-on-one drills Tuesday that was the Patriots’ play of the day. But outside of Polk and Douglas, the New England receivers have had a lot of issues.
Perhaps the brass can talk itself into a trio of Polk, Douglas and Kendrick Bourne being productive. But Bourne still hasn’t practiced this summer as he recovers from an ACL tear and might open the season on the PUP list (meaning he’d miss at least the first four games), the undersized Douglas has a track record of injuries and Polk will be adjusting to the grind of the NFL.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
5. The line seems set
Mayo said he wanted the Patriots to have their starting offensive line set by the end of this week, and it seems like they will. At each practice for the last week, we’ve seen Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle.
Has the group struggled? No question. But it seems set — in part because the second-team O-line has been even worse.
6. The defense was better
This should come as no surprise, but the Patriots defense was much better than the offense. While it’s hard to keep track of simultaneous plays on adjacent fields, the defense did seem to fare well against the Eagles even if it didn’t score any turnovers.
“I think we did a pretty good damn job,” Jabrill Peppers said.
There’s a lot of hype around what Gonzalez has in store for Year 2, and for good reason. He was sensational in three-plus games as a rookie before he suffered a season-ending injury.
But Gonzalez’s training camp has been up and down. It’s not that he has been bad. He just hasn’t been as dominant as you’d like to see from someone who’s expected to be a true shutdown corner. He was beaten on three of his four one-on-one reps against Eagles receivers and also allowed touchdowns against Patriots receivers at recent practices.
It’s too early to be concerned, and maybe he’s just knocking off rust. But he’s not yet performing like a No. 1 corner.
8. Cornerback injuries
Gonzalez’s camp performance is especially noteworthy because while the Patriots feel good about their starting cornerback trio of him, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones (slot), all three players dealt with injuries a year ago. So health is far from a guarantee.
Already, both Joneses missed Tuesday’s practice with undisclosed injuries.
9. Screens aren’t working
One area the offense needs to clean up is its use of running back screens. When run well, they can be incredibly effective plays, especially on third-and-long. The Kansas City Chiefs are a good example of a team that runs screens well.
But the Patriots are having issues in practice. They had multiple screens blown up by the Eagles defensive line Tuesday. Maybe that’s a byproduct of going up against a top-end D-line, but it’s something to monitor in the remaining preseason games.
10. Barmore back
For the first time since being diagnosed with blood clots, Patriots star defensive tackle Christian Barmore was at Gillette Stadium. He stood on the sideline during the practice and caught up with teammates.
Barmore is out indefinitely, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to return to the field by the end of the season.
“It can be dark days,” Davon Godchaux said. “So I told him, ‘Come around more. We miss you.’”
GO DEEPER
Christian Barmore news reminds us that despite new contract, he’s just like the rest of us
(Photo of Drake Maye: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
