Wednesday Patriots Notebook 7/3: News and Notes
There's nowhere to go but up for the New England Patriots in 2024.
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
With the NFL in the middle of what’s arguably the deadest portion of the offseason, there remains a lot of discussion when it comes to the New England Patriots offense.
Many are wondering about a variety of topics, whether it’s the state of the offensive line, the receivers, the running backs, and obviously the situation at quarterback.
At the end of the day, one thing remains abundantly clear:
After hitting rock bottom in 2023, there’s nowhere to go but up.
This is a club that finished at the bottom of the scoring rankings in the NFL last season, tying with the Carolina Panthers with just 236 points scored in 2023, along with the worst point differential in the league (-130).
They couldn’t get out of their own way early on, finishing tied with the Vikings for the fourth-worst first-quarter scoring in the NFL, which largely came from early game miscues or turnovers.
Both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe combined to lead the offense to just 2 first-quarter passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, along with five interceptions.
Think about that. They scored just three first-quarter offensive touchdowns in 17 games. That’s absolutely staggering.
Their inability to move the ball and the turnovers often put the team in a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Add in the fact opponents scored 89 first-quarter points against them last season (eighth most in the league), and it was certainly a recipe for disaster as they spent much of the season playing from behind.
They managed to score an average of 13.9 points per contest for all of 2023, including losing three straight games where their defense allowed 10, 10, and 6 points, respectively. That remains another mind-blowing number to come out of last season.
While there’s no question they were in rough shape due to injuries, it’s still hard to believe things were really that bad.
Jones and Zappe each played their own role. Overall, the two combined for 21 interceptions and just 16 touchdowns, with Jones throwing 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while Zappe finished with six touchdowns and 9 picks.
With the page now turned, Jacoby Brissett will seemingly get the nod to begin the season, and one trait he brings with him is the fact he’s more careful with the football.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wrote in his Sunday column a few weeks ago that Brissett has thrown an interception on just 1.4 percent of his career pass attempts, which is tied with Aaron Rodgers for the lowest interception percentage of any quarterback since 1990. He’s thrown just 23 interceptions in 1,600 pass attempts, while Rodgers has 105 interceptions in 7,661 attempts.
That means the offense will at least have a chance to move the ball and score some points, without shooting itself in the foot the way it did in 2023.
That should hopefully them to stay in games and allow the defense to pick up where it left off last season. That’s a unit that allowed the 15th fewest point total, allowing 366 points, an average of 21.5 per contest. They also allowed just 301.6 yards per game, good for 7th in the NFL.
Overall, while there aren’t any flashy names that joined this group this offseason, there have at least been some steps forward.
Back in March, with Mac Jones still on the roster and little to offer free agents, save for optimism and hypotheticals, the club struck out when it came to attracting any true impact players on offense. Credit Eliot Wolf and company for not panicking and overpaying any more than they were willing to for Calvin Ridley, who clearly leveraged the Patriots against the Jaguars, as well as using them against the Titans in what eventually ended up being his landing spot in Tennessee.
Most reports from Jacksonville indicated he didn’t want to go to New England, and Wolf wisely let him go when it became obvious he didn’t really want to be part of the team’s rebuild.
That led to the Titans landing the free agent with a four-year, $92 million deal that even owner Amy Adams was unaware of. She reportedly heard about the deal through the media, calling in to inquire about the signing as the club had Ridley on the line to congratulate him.
Since then, the Patriots obviously drafted Drake Maye and have made additional moves that will likely improve the free agency landscape for the team next March.
In the meantime, unlike previous years, the club finally seems to have potentially hit on at least one receiver in the draft. That in and of itself is significant, and it might hopefully be the start of things to come when it comes to fans, at last, having hope in April at that position.
Second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk has received extremely positive reports so far this spring. The same holds true for fourth-round pick Javon Baker, who, despite an injury setback, is also expected to contribute.
Based on how he’s looked early on, seventh-round pick, tight end Jaheim Bell, might surprise everyone. He’s a player who might end up doing a lot of what many hoped Mike Gesicki was going to last year, with Bell also in the fold for at least the next four seasons on a rookie salary.
The club locked up Rhamondre Stevenson for the future, securing at least one building block as the nucleus for this new offense. They also brought back Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne, which definitely provides some veteran talent to complement these young players.
Overall, it’s a massive step forward from where they were a year ago. Add in whatever progress we see from Drake Maye, who should be able to take his time developing if Brissett ends up having a productive season, and there’s even more reason to believe they’re now at least heading in the right direction.
For now, there’s a lot to look forward to when training camp opens in the coming weeks. The club has a smart, savvy veteran quarterback in the fold to set the right example, especially for the younger guys around him. The overall belief league-wide seems to be the Patriots brought in the perfect player in Brissett to help them with what’s definitely a critical transition, which should make the early portion of the season a little less maddening to follow.
What that all means remains to be seen, but the one positive people can take away is that the worst should be in the rearview. While things are not necessarily perfect, there’s plenty about this roster that has been cleaned up, and they’re absolutely in better shape building for the future than they were one year ago.
Progress will be the key word everyone will be looking for this season. If that happens, it will make next March a little more exciting, as free-agent players always want to be a part of something special.
With a lot of cap space likely rolling over into 2025, that will feel a little more possible if things come together when this 2024 campaign eventually gets underway. And it’s probably safe to say that for most fans, it can’t get here soon enough.
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FA’s typically go for money. Some like a WR may look at the QB and line at prospective FA teams, or some may want a team that can get them a ring, or a geographic location they want to live in….. but in a league where careers often only last 1-2 contracts, and that can be a lifetime of money, it’s about $$.
Good article given there’s so much negativity in sports and the broad media today. As for the Pats, they were on the ‘up tick’ last year with a lot of young talent like the guys they just resigned this offseason. Those are good players. But when your o-line is weak on paper, and the short term patches you apply to get through the season in like Calvin Anderson (maleria), and Riley Reiff go down in summer camp, and Strange goes down in summer camp and played hurt for part season, and Andrews was out a few games. Onwenu couldn’t even… Read more »