The Patriots will start their sixth different offensive line in six weeks.
The New England Patriots appeared set to start the same five offensive linemen for the first time all season on Sunday against the Houston Texans. However, the team called an audible and decided to make a change at the center position.
Ben Brown, who was signed off the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad earlier this week, will get the start over Nick Leverett. Head coach Jerod Mayo announced the change during a pre-game interview.
“It won’t be the same, but we’ll take four out of five,” Mayo told Scott Zolak of 98.5 The Sports Hub. “Change at center. Ben will start at center, and we got a rookie quarterback. So, it should be interesting.”
A journeyman since entering the NFL in 2022, Brown spent time in Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle and Las Vegas before joining the Patriots. Along the way, he saw action in one game: he played eight offensive snaps as a backup left guard for the Seahawks in 2023. Now, he will start his first career game.
In that sense, he is in the same boat as New England’s quarterback: Drake Maye, the third overall pick in this year’s draft, will be the Patriots’ No. 1 QB against Houston. He spent the first five games of the season backing up Jacoby Brissett, but was promoted to the top job earlier this week.
Maye did get some heavy practice time with Brown in during the week leading up to the Texans game. Despite his late arrival, he was repping with the starters on Friday.
Brown will be the third starting center for New England this year. The spot was originally occupied by David Andrews, but the team captain suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4. As a result, Nick Leverett took over in Week 5 but struggled mightily in pass protection. Now, he returns to the bench.
The Patriots’ game against the Texans will be kicked off at 1 p.m. ET.