Will the Patriots strengthen their offensive line this week?
This offseason, the Patriots have been mixing and matching players to find their best starting offense, and after their final preseason game in Washington, it’s not clear if they’ve found the answers they were looking for.
For most of training camp, the Patriots played with a lineup of Chuks Okorafor (right tackle), Michael Onwenu (right guard), David Andrews (center), Sidy Sow (left guard) and Vederian Lowe (left tackle).
During the final week of training camp, things began to change. Rookie Layden Robinson was rotated in and out of the top unit at right guard, while rookie Caedan Wallace was inserted at left tackle. Shortly thereafter, Lowe suffered an oblique strain and the coaching staff completely revamped its offensive line.
The final two days of camp featured Onwenu at right tackle, Robinson at right guard and Okorafor at left tackle. That group started – and struggled – on Sunday night against the Washington Commanders.
On Monday morning, Mayo said the Patriots have not yet settled on what their starting lineup will look like in less than two weeks when they face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. There is even a possibility the Patriots could make a roster change to strengthen the group.
“We still have some time to figure out what the best combination is,” Mayo said. “I would say these guys, aside from the pre-snap penalties, there have definitely been times where this unit has done a pretty good job out there for the quarterback, and also, especially in the run game. Anytime you can average over five yards per run, that’s a good thing. Well, I’m not sure what the exact combination is.”
“We arrived at 4 a.m. this morning and are still finishing up the film. We’ll have a group ready for Cincy.”
The Patriots ran the ball efficiently, covering 139 total yards and averaging 5.1 yards per run. However, the group was weak and inefficient in pass defense and penalties.
On the first series, a mix-up between Sow and Robinson resulted in Commanders defensive end KJ Henry being unblocked and Jacoby Brissett, who had sustained a right shoulder injury, being sacked.
When Drake Maye entered the game, the offensive line’s mistakes began to pile up. The rookie quarterback’s first series featured two bad snaps by backup center Nick Leverett. By halftime, the offensive line had been assessed four illegal lineup penalties, three holding penalties, and one false start.
There was even a play where Sow stepped on Mayes’ foot, knocking the quarterback’s shoe loose.
Okorafor was warned three times for illegal positioning, the last time he prevented a 48-yard touchdown from Maye to KJ Osborn.
The Patriots also had to deal with another injury, as Sow left the game with a sprained ankle. He was reportedly seen leaving the stadium in walking boots. He was replaced by Michael Jordan, who was penalized for a holding foul on his first series.
The concern about the offensive line is that it will make life more difficult for the quarterbacks.
“We still have some time, and I understand the season is actually still a few weeks away, but we still have some time for the quarterbacks to build that confidence in the offensive line,” Mayo said. “It’s not always about putting the best person at a single position, but what combination of guys gives us the best chance to win football games.”
The Patriots tried to revamp their offensive line this offseason, re-signing Onwenu in free agency and adding Okorafor, Leverett and Jordan. Mayo said there’s still a chance the Patriots could add offensive linemen this week as teams trim their rosters from 90 to 53 players.
“I would also say looking out the windshield, we have an opportunity to improve our team through the waiver list, and we’re in a very unique situation right now because we’re third on the waiver list and we’re going to have some good players released, and we’re going to try to take advantage of that,” Mayo said on WEEI’s ‘The Greg Hill Show.’ “The starting guard or the starting tackle might not be on our team today. We’ll see what we can get in the next few days.”