The New England Patriots offensive line entered the season as a sore spot. Thursday night, the unit put its quarterbacks in a painful predicament, repeatedly giving up free rushers to the New York Jets in a 24-3 loss.
Center David Andrews, who entered the game questionable with a hip injury and allowed four QB pressures and two sacks, per Next Gen Stats, gave a blunt assessment of his unit's performance.
"It's not good," the nine-year veteran said, . "It's not good, and we have to be better up front. We're gonna work, and we're gonna try to do everything we can to be better. That's not sustainable, and that's not winning football."
Patriots starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett was sacked five times. Rookie Drake Maye entered for the final drive and took two sacks, including the game-ender.
Brissett faced pressure on 56.5% of all dropbacks (13 pressures), the highest rate he's faced in a game since 2018 (min. 10 attempts), per Next Gen Stats. Against the blitz, Brissett took more sacks (3) than he had completions (2 of 7 for 28 yards). The QB was pressured on 80.0% of dropbacks against five-plus pass rushers.
Many of the pressures were free runners at the QB, signifying a breakdown in O-line communication or a misread pre-snap by the quarterback.
"I thought the offensive line today had a hard time, had a hard time," coach Jerod Mayo said. "There were times earlier in the game where the pockets looked pretty clean. But as the game wore on, similar to last week, started falling apart as far as the protections."
Even before injuries, the Pats had questions about whether the offensive line could keep rushers out of the QB's face. Then, the injuries struck. Guard Sidy Sow (ankle) hasn't played since the preseason. Left tackle Vederian Lowe (knee) was ruled out Thursday, thrusting third-round rookie Caedan Wallace into a position he hasn't played since high school. Tackle Michael Onwenu (wrist) and Andrews (hip) were questionable entering the game, but both played.
The lack of cohesion has made a questionable crew worse.
"The offensive line, you want those guys to be able to go out there as a unit and gel together," Mayo said. "But whether through injury or through whatever it is, we just haven't found the right combination."
The offensive line concerns were part of the calculus for keeping Maye on the bench to start the season. The issues have only gotten worse. It will again be something for Mayo to consider as he decides if the long weekend off before the Week 4 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers is the right time to turn to the rookie.
