Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
List of Injuries Leading to Uncertainty as Cutdowns Loom
As the Patriots start getting ready to close out the preseason, it looks like they still have some question marks ahead of the regular season that could factor into next week’s roster cutdowns.
Among some of the names who feel like they may not be ready to go by week one are Kendrick Bourne, Sione Takitaki, and Marte Mapu, all of whom have been limited and haven’t participated during the team portions of practice for much of the preseason.
Multiple reports have indicated that Bourne will likely begin 2024 on the PUP list, and based on Jerod Mayo’s comments on Wednesday, it sounds like Takitaki and Mapu might potentially join him.
“When those guys are ready to come back, they’ll be out here practicing,” said Mayo on Bourne and Takitaki. “And that’s the hard part. I don’t like to put time limits, deadlines on it. When they’re ready to play, and we get them from the weight lifting staff and also [Head Athletic Trainer] Jim Whalen and his staff, then we’ll go with it.”
When asked about Mapu, Mayo’s comments made it sound like it will be a bit until he’s ready to get back out there.
“Yeah, he’s one of those guys who, I would love to say day-to-day, but we’re probably talking week to week,” said Mayo. “I’m sure no one ever said that before to you guys, but week to week.”
Also still banged up is Calvin Anderson, who seemed set on becoming a terrific comeback story this preseason, but that hasn’t happened to this point. Anderson could still become a factor, but the challenge for the veteran is simply the fact the team is running out of time before it has to make some tough decisions and Anderson’s lack of availability this preseason will likely complicate that.
Lowe Leaves Practice
However, the bigger concern is going to be along the offensive line, and the Patriots appeared to have suffered another setback there. During Wednesday’s session, left tackle Vederian Lowe left practice after reportedly suffering what appeared to be a back injury, with Lowe gingerly leaving the field for further evaluation.
His loss, if he’s out for any extended amount of time, certainly leaves them thin. Rookie Caedan Wallace stepped in after Lowe’s departure, which will likely see both him and potentially Chukwuma Okorafor try and hold down that spot until he’s healthy.
Lowe has been a player who has grown significantly this preseason, with Eliot Wolf telling reporters this week he’s been pleased with his progress.
“Vederian has done a really nice job. He’s steadily improved,” said Wolf. “We said it last year, if he could just learn to… He has a really good length to get his hands out, that he would have a chance to ascend to that starter level. And he’s really started to do that this year. And it’s been impressive to watch him progress, and we’re excited to continue working with him.”
Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal talked about the situation in his recent podcast, and he believes that Okorafor could be the best option if Lowe doesn’t pan out. However, he also said that based on what he’s heard, there may be some concerns internally about that.
“Are there any other options? Caedan Wallace, but that’s probably a stretch for him as a rookie,” said Bedard. “Now look, the whole Chuks Okorafor thing, remember, Wolf basically said that they signed him to play left tackle. I think it was Mayo or Wolf who said, ‘If today was the day, Okorafor would be our left tackle. That happened for like three days, hasn’t happened barely at all, since.”
“So what’s the issue there? I believe that Okorafor has some discomfort playing on the left side. Maybe didn’t like it, prefers the right side, I think they’re giving that a harder look to see, is that workable for them? I still think that Okorafor has the chance to be their best left tackle. Is that going to happen? I don’t know. I have reason to believe that they’re not exactly thrilled with Okorafor on the coaching staff.”
Hogan Nails The Maye Situation
Former Patriots quarterback Chris Hogan sat down in a recent podcast with Christopher Price and talked about the situation with Drake Maye and whether or not the rookie should start the season.
Hogan points out that despite Maye’s performance last week, people need to understand that as good as he looked, what he was dealing with defensively is nothing compared to what happens once the regular season actually gets underway.
“Dude, it’s the fricking preseason,” said Hogan. “He’s seeing cover three, cover two, cover four, man, there’s no multiple blitzes, man/zone, we’re not talking about that. Week one, that s**t is coming, right? And if you put Drake out there, it’s going to be a fricking field day of blitzes just to see if he can handle it. And you don’t want to do that to the kid.”
“Let Jacoby handle it. He’s seen it. And if Jacoby messes up, ‘All right, let’s go back and watch film,’ and Drake, again, mental reps are huge. Like, see it. ‘All right, they rolled here, they did this, they went from man to zone, they sent the corner,’ you’ve got to be able to see all this in real-time. And like you said, we don’t want to do week one and week two and then have to yank him.”
“We’ve seen what that does to quarterbacks, and let’s not get into this rotating wheel of, ‘Ok, who we drafting next year because he didn’t make it?’
Hogan’s points are valid. The more likely scenario will likely be that it will be Brissett’s job to lose once the season gets underway, with Maye’s timetable simply based on Brissett’s performance, as well as Maye’s own progress in the offense over the course of the upcoming 2024 campaign.
Odds and Ends
Linebacker Josh Uche remains a player who appears to still be recovering from an injury. Uche has been limited at various points and Mayo admitted during his press conference that the veteran is dealing with something. “That’s something that happened during the summer,” said Mayo. “I don’t think it’s major, but put him in the bucket ‘Once he’s ready, he’ll go.’ He is dealing with something, though.” … The Patriots made a roster move on Wednesday, parting ways with defensive tackle Mike Purcell. The veteran signed with the club earlier this month and played 34 snaps (50%) at nose tackle against Philadelphia last week, but registered just two tackles against the Eagles. … Mayo gave a vote of confidence to rookie Drake Maye, with the head coach saying he has no doubt Maye could step in and execute the offense should that opportunity come to fruition. “100%,” said Mayo when asked about that Wednesday. “I think he’s ready to run a huddle.” … After being somewhat blunt in his thoughts on the offensive line coming off of last week’s game, Mayo said he saw some improvement there this week. “They’ve responded well,” said Mayo. “And I will say, going back and looking at the film, the practice, I got that. But if you were to look at the whole body of work with our offensive line, they’ve done a good job, and they’re getting better going forward.” … Mayo also said that he’s been impressed with the push he’s seen from Layden Robinson, who is coming on strong in these final weeks. He also said he’s been pleased with how guys have competed. “I would say he’s strung a few weeks together here,” said Mayo of Robinson. “And that’s the thing. I told these guys at the beginning of camp, ‘There are more people in this room than there are jobs. And so either you’re going to hold onto your job, or someone’s going to take your job.’ And I would say all those guys have been battling. So it’s going to be a tough decision.” … Kicker Joey Slye is finishing the preseason strong in his battle against Chad Ryland. Slye reportedly went 4-of-4 on Wednesday, while Ryland finished just 1-of-4. Barring disaster, it appears the job is Slye’s to lose heading into Sunday night’s finale in Washington.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
Hogan nailed it. Parcells said this week you have to be careful when throwing a rookie QB to the wolves. AVP doused the story saying Maye is still trying to learn facets of the offense and handling situations that Brissett knows. But the media will still push the narrative that “the starting QB decision is on-the-line” Sunday night @Washington. The media needs that Maye vs Brissett story for the impatient fan’s eyeballs. They did the same with Mac Jones – compare QBs based on summer camp stats only if/when that met their need. Those summer games are not a true… Read more »
Moving Okorofor to LT, Onwenu to RT and Robinson into LG and bumping Sidy Sow to LG is changing 4 spots due to Verdarian Lowe being out short term. 4 of 5 positions changed? That sounds odd to me. To impactful. They have 2 weeks to practice and adjust but to late for that. You set up swing tackle and backup guards/center so as to not have chain reaction class change when 1 starter goes down.. But Calvin Anderson is dinged up as well and Wallace had missed time. Not ideal.