Patriots’ Jerod Mayo Tips Hand Regarding Offensive Line Shakeup

The Patriots will start their seventh different offensive line combination Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It’s Week 7.

New England didn’t reveal any concrete plans regarding how things will change but was forced to make adjustments after ruling out starting left tackle Vederian Lowe on Thursday.

“It’s been tough,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said Friday, per team-provided video. “It’s been tough, not only at the left tackle position but across the entire offensive line in general. I feel like we’ve been talking about this since training camp, and we continually — whether its replacing someone because of injury or lack of performance, and we’re still shuffling the deck. It’s definitely challenging, but that being said, everyone has to be ready to play no matter what position we’re talking about.

Lowe, Chukwuma Okorafor, Demontrey Jacobs, Caedan Wallace, Michael Jordan, Sidy Sow, David Andrews, Ben Brown, Nick Leverett, Mike Onwenu and Layden Robinson have each started at least one game for the club this season, and the injury to the former will help one of those names re-enter the lineup.

“Layden (Robinson) is one of the hardest practicing guys on the team,” Mayo said. “He always shows tremendous effort, and sometimes you hit a wall. He’s gone through that wall and he’ll play (Sunday). He’s a very tough player and I look forward to his future, as well.”

Mayo revealing Robinson’s insertion back into the lineup pretty much paints the full picture, as he only has started at right guard this season. The Patriots likely would then move Demontrey Jacobs back to left tackle, where he started in Week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers, with Onwenu sliding back to right tackle where he began the regular season.

Mayo didn’t want to make that admission, however.

“I don’t want to get into where he’s going to line up,” Mayo said when asked about Onwenu. “I’ve always said that he’s a very versatile player; whether it’s at guard or at tackle, he’s able to function and function at a high level.”

It’s been a tough start to the season for New England, with two former starters no longer being with the team, but all it can do is move forward. Jacobs-Jordan-Brown-Robinson-Onwenu, at least for now, looks like the group that will lead the charge.