Change To Patriots’ Drake Maye Puts Even More On This Group, They Know It

FOXBORO, Mass. — The boos were loud when the New England Patriots allowed two sacks on Jacoby Brissett’s first three drop backs against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. An identical result in Drake Maye’s debut start likely would make for an even more deafening reaction.

Because the truth is things are different when the future of the franchise is behind center.

Mike Onwenu seems to understand that.

“Being our first-round pick, you want to protect him and keep him safe,” Onwenu told NESN.com in the locker room Wednesday. “It’s definitely intensified and you want to do better and be better.”

That’s not to say Patriots offensive linemen now will try harder in front of Maye than they did Brissett. They didn’t allow the highest pressure rate in the league through five weeks because it was a veteran journeyman and not the third overall pick.

But the group responsible for protecting Maye will face even more scrutiny should their struggles continue. The entire organization will.

“At the end of the day it don’t matter who in there,” center Nick Leverett told NESN.com. “I treat it as if my mama back there. I want to protect to the best of my ability, we all do. We take pride and anytime we mess up we take it to heart. If Drake back there, you definitely want to keep the kid clean.”

I treat it as if my mama back there.

Patriots center Nick Leverett

The struggles of the offensive line were a leading reason many thought the Patriots should keep Maye on the bench. The Patriots are one of the worst teams in the league in pass blocking metrics, in addition to their league-high pressure rate. Whether or not Brissett was under siege was more or less a coin flip.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo stressed the offensive line would not play a factor in Maye’s debut date. He kept to his word when he officially named Maye the starter Wednesday.

“Every team, even this early in the season, is still trying to figure out who they have, what they are as an organization and their identity,” Mayo said. “What I would say, look, we’re good with Drake. Every team doesn’t have a, let’s say, a ‘one’ receiver or ‘one’ running back. They don’t have those kinds of things, but I would say that Drake is going to make us a better football team today and going forward.”

There’s an argument to be made that New England’s offensive line is in a better spot — not great — entering their Week 6 game against the Houston Texans. For the first time this season, the Patriots will start the same offensive line in consecutive contests. Meanwhile, Vederian Lowe was an upgrade at left tackle Sunday and Onwenu back at right guard presented the Patriots with better returns on the ground.

Onwenu believes it will serve as an advantage for Maye.

“Yeah, that’s for any quarterback,” Onwenu said. “You want the same guys in front of you. Just to know they’ve played with each other, they know whether it’s picking up blocking or just playing together, essentially.”

It won’t be an easy task against a Houston defense that leads the league in pressure rate with defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. consistently wreaking havoc. But with New England’s franchise signal-caller thrust into the mix, it’s a challenge the offensive line will have to meet head on.