Patriots Mailbag: How Hot Is Bill Belichick’s Seat After 1-3 Start?

Time for another New England Patriots mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions.

@Acasualpatsfan
How hot is bills seat? If we continue to lose the next two would kraft consider a complete tear down and a tank job for an elite prospect to re-energize the fanbase?
I highly doubt it, even if you could argue that it might be the best path forward for the franchise. It isn’t in Bill Belichick’s DNA to tank, especially when he’s within striking distance of Don Shula’s wins record, and I just can’t see Robert Kraft firing him during the season.

But Belichick’s seat already is hotter than it’s ever been, and it’ll become downright scalding if the Patriots lose to the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders — two mediocre teams they should be able to beat — and fall to 1-5.

Based on what Kraft has said publicly in each of the last two offseasons (“It’s very important to me that we make the playoffs”), I think moving on from Belichick ahead of the 2024 campaign is on the table if the Patriots only win five or six games and don’t come close to a postseason berth. Especially if the offense — which Belichick helped by hiring Bill O’Brien but hamstrung with his personnel choices at right tackle and wide receiver — continues to rank near the bottom of the NFL in scoring.

Kraft surely does not want to have to make that call, and the Patriots will be in a much better position if they can take care of business the next two weeks and claw back to .500. But it’s not hyperbole to call this a potentially franchise-altering stretch for New England.

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@callmeclutch___
do you see the pats making a move for Garett Bolles or La’el Collins?
They have to do something at right tackle. It’s been the weakest link in an offensive line that’s struggled to both protect Mac Jones and clear lanes in the run game through four weeks.

Calvin Anderson looked rough there in the first two games, and his replacement, Vederian Lowe, has been even worse. Lowe allowed eight and nine total pressures in his first two starts at right tackle, per Pro Football Focus. The nine against Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys were the most pressures any Patriots blocker has allowed since the start of the 2017 season, according to PFF’s charting.

I’d give Riley Reiff a look at right tackle once he’s healthy enough to return. Reiff, who was back at practice this week and can be activated off injured reserve, entered training camp as the favorite to start opposite Trent Brown. He struggled and eventually moved inside to guard, where he was playing when he got hurt in the final preseason game, but he’s at least a potential upgrade over what Anderson and Lowe have given the Patriots through four games.

Shifting Mike Onwenu from right guard to right tackle always is an option, too, but the Patriots have been loath to do so since the start of last season.

Back to your question, though, I do think looking elsewhere for reinforcements makes sense if Reiff isn’t the answer. The Patriots reportedly showed at least some interest in Collins when the Cincinnati Bengals cut him last month, and he reportedly has been medically cleared to return from the knee injury he suffered last December.

The 30-year-old has a wealth of starting experience at right tackle and even has the versatility to play guard, which the Patriots always love. Assuming he checks out health-wise, he’d be my top target.

Former #Bengals OT La’el Collins got medical clearance from his ACL and MCL surgery two weeks ago and has been putting work in.

He’s gauging interest from several teams and is likely to take free agent visits in the near future.

Rare to add this caliber of an offensive… pic.twitter.com/32E0ZneyEi

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 5, 2023

As for Bolles, he could be trade bait if the 1-3 Broncos don’t turn things around under first-year coach Sean Payton, but he’s only ever played left tackle. The Patriots are set there as long as Brown stays healthy.

@jhondo81
How much better would the #Patriots be if they kept Shaq Mason two years ago so they wouldn’t need to replace him at guard and then used the Cole Strange pick on an OT or WR?
That’s a valid second guess, especially since Strange still doesn’t look like a first-round talent a month into his second season. Mason, meanwhile, has drawn positive reviews for his performance with Houston this season. This tweet from Brown caught my eye Thursday:

I miss my dawg 🫡 https://t.co/U7GfvCcL0i

— Trent Brown (@Trent) October 5, 2023

It’s worth noting, though, that Strange didn’t replace Mason. He took over for Ted Karras at left guard, with Mike Onwenu stepping in for Mason at right guard (and immediately playing at a borderline Pro Bowl level last season).

Whether Strange keeps his starting job moving forward will be an interesting subplot to follow. Belichick had a lot of nice things to say Friday about fifth-round rookie Atonio Mafi, who started in place of an injured Strange last week and has seen action in every game this season.

@Cheech_n_Jon
What’s the deal with Boutte? Ever since that missed toe tap vs the Eagles, we haven’t seen him much
You haven’t seen Kayshon Boutte at all since that near-miss in Week 1, in fact. After playing 50 snaps in the Patriots’ season opener, the sixth-round rookie wideout was a healthy scratch for each of the last three games.

Why? Well, Boutte essentially was a 1-for-1 replacement for DeVante Parker in that game, and with Parker back in the lineup these last three weeks, it makes sense that there hasn’t been room for him.

Perhaps their calculus would have been different if Boutte had lit it up against Philadelphia, but he finished with no catches on four targets, failed to get his feet down in bounds twice and fell down on an end-zone pass breakup. Simply put, he looked like a rookie.

We’ll see how the season develops, but it could take an injury or the outright benching of a player like JuJu Smith-Schuster for Boutte to get back in the mix.

@jbrtennis
Will Thornton ever amount to anything? Do you think he understands everyone thinks he is a huge bust at this point?!
I’ll believe it when I see it. Tyquan Thornton clearly has talent, and his rare speed should give the Patriots the vertical element that’s been missing from their passing game, but he just hasn’t proven he can be a reliable, consistent contributor. So far in his career, the 2022 second-rounder has more injured reserve stints (two) than games with 40-plus receiving yards (one).

Maybe Thornton comes back from IR and looks like the player the Patriots thought they were getting when they drafted him several rounds earlier than his projection last year. It was disappointing, though, to see he still wasn’t ready to practice this week. He has a lot to prove whenever he does make it back onto the field.