Patriots’ Jerod Mayo Hints At Increased Playing Time For These Players

The Patriots weren’t succeeding when their primary focus was winning games, so they appear to be changing things up entering the final stretch of a lost season.

It’s all about the kids now.

New England has hinted at a shift in philosophy over the last several weeks, but head coach Jerod Mayo essentially made things official in a sit-down with NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran on Thursday. He wants to increase playing time for several rookies.

“You have (Javon) Baker, you have (Ja’Lynn) Polk, you have Layden Robinson, Caedan Wallace — all of those guys — we wanna push them out there in an effort to know what we have in the offseason.”

Robinson was the perfect example of that increased effort in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, as he regained a starting role and appears to be the primary option at left guard moving forward. Cole Strange’s impending return could eventually change that, but there’s clearly room for him to contribute down the stretch.

Wallace, Polk and Baker’s roles are less clear.

Polk has received legitimate playing time throughout the season, but his snap count numbers have dipped amid persistent struggles. The Patriots believe that troubling trend can be attributed to compounding mental mistakes, which they clearly want to work him through. Baker, on the other hand, essentially has been tucked away on special teams, registering just 32 total offensive snaps during his rookie season.

Wallace remains on injured reserve, and though it is widely expected that he’ll be ready to return at some point over the final five weeks, he hasn’t practiced in over two months.

New England’s desire to get the rookie involved makes plenty of sense, but the clock is ticking.