Patriots Position Group Might Have Experienced Rock Bottom Vs. Jets

It was an ugly all-around performance from the New England Patriots on Thursday night against the New York Jets.

But arguably no positional group for the Patriots fared worse than the offensive line.

New England’s unit up front allowed the Jets to wreak havoc and torture starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett. The Jets finished with seven sacks and an eye-popping 15 quarterback hits on Brissett and Drake Maye, who made his NFL debut in garbage time.

With each passing week, there are more questions and concerns about the offensive line, which can’t stand up to any defensive front at the moment. It also didn’t help that the Patriots started their third left tackle in as many games with rookie Caedan Wallace getting the call with Vederian Lowe ruled out for the contest due to an injury.

“I thought the offensive line today had a hard time,” Mayo told reporters, per WBZ. “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. It’s not only knowing how to do it, it’s also knowing what to do. I also want to say we had some injuries up front that the next man has to be ready to go.”

It sure was an awful performance from New England’s offensive line. But is this rock bottom? Can it get worse? It doesn’t feel like it, but giving up double-digit sacks in a game doesn’t feel out of the question.

And the personnel up front isn’t going to dramatically change, either, unless a 350-pound tackle that resembles a brick wall falls from the sky. The Patriots not only forced Wallace into action, but also started left guard Michal Jordan for a third straight game. Jordan didn’t even make New England’s initial 53-man roster.

This is what the Patriots and first-year head coach Jerod Mayo were given by executive vice president of of player personnel Eliot Wolf. It was a clear oversight by Wolf and the new regime to not build a better offensive line, one capable of doing the minimum to protect Brissett or Maye.

“We just got beat pretty handily and I would say right now everything is of concern,” Mayo said. “The offensive line we want those guys to be able to go out there as a unit and jell together. But whether through injury or whatever it is, we just haven’t found the right combination yet.”