The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about the trade deadline, Dont’a Hightower, and more.
The New England Patriots got a much needed win after a noisy week, which they’ll now look to build on against the 1-6 Tennessee Titans.
While much of the attention is focused on Drake Maye working through concussion protocol, there’s plenty else going on around the team — especially with the looming NFL trade deadline.
With that, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag.
What targets could the pats have for OL similar to the Vikings trading for Cam Robinson? Mid rd pick for an upgrade. – CooBear
It was not surprising to see the reports this week that the Patriots were monitoring the trade market for potential upgrades. This team should be on the hunt for talent whenever and wherever, especially in what has been a generous buyers market so far.
The popular compatible (that we used recently in a mailbag) was the Chicago Bears trading to pass rusher Montez Sweat at last year’s trade deadline. Despite being 2-6, Chicago dealt a second-round draft pick for the 27-year old and then agreed on a four-year extension just days later.
Now with a rookie quarterback, Sweat is leading a playoff hopeful Bears defense in pressures (24) and tackles for loss (5) while his 3.5 sacks rank second.
While Chicago had the benefit of having multiple first round selections, a similar move could be smart for New England to get talent in the building. That does not mean their first-round pick should be available and we have hesitations about dealing their second rounder (unless for the right player), but perhaps they could find a move for one of their two third-round picks.
The difficulty is now finding targets worth it. New England was reportedly looking for help at wide receiver, offensive tackle, and defensive tackle. At those positions, Tee Higgins remains the biggest wild card but it does not look like he will be traded in season.
Its tough to find an impact player like Higgins at other spots which could pivot New England to a lower value deal. Kolton Miller (Raiders, UFA 2026) and Taylor Moton (Panthers, UFA 2026) were potential tackles we noted in addition to Robinson several weeks ago. Denver has also reportedly made pass rushers Baron Browning and Jonathan Cooper available. The Giants also could be a partner at both wide receiver with Darius Slayton and pass rusher with Azeez Ojulari.
Overall, however, we’d expect it to be a relatively quiet deadline for New England, who may just ship off a wide receiver like K.J. Osborn and/or Tyquan Thornton.
The Pats need weapons, and short cornerbacks playing the perimeter will face some bad matchups, as we saw on Sunday. Wouldn’t they be better off to transition Marcus Jones into an offensive weapon? Slot receiver/third down back maybe? This guy needs the ball in his hands. J Jones only played half the snaps as it was, and he’s a solid #2 corner. I’m thinking long term here. – ed.liebfried
I get the idea (and would never rule out a snap or two) but Marcus Jones and coaches have made it clear he is a corner. They are more than fine with him taking on a versatile role in the secondary while making plays as a returner — especially now with Pop Douglas, who carries that similar skillet, at receiver.
New England has used Douglas in jet, orbit, and boomerang motions that are similar to the ones installed for Jones back in the 2022 season. It’s a nice wrinkle that has worked with Douglas.
If he gets activated & he’s available to play soon, do you guys see Mayo & the coaching staff rushing to integrate Cole Strange into the starting lineup, ignoring any potential continuity even if Ben Brown & Michael Jordan continue to be serviceable/quality pieces? – PatsNationBreeze
The pass protection has been trending upwards for the Patriots. After ranking dead last through the first five weeks with a 46 percent pressure rate, the unit ranks 15th with a 35 percent pressure rate from Weeks 6-8.
Much of that has to do with the continuity up front as players like Ben Brown, Michael Jordan, and Trey Jacobs have settled down several spots. Last week marked the first time all season New England started the same five upfront in two game, which coincided with their lowest pressure rate allowed in a game this year.
While Strange is a more talented option over Jordan at guard or Brown at center (where they potentially see him filling in), it would not be a surprise to see them continue to maintain their continuity with the current unit.
“Just working. I think the work, again the techniques that we teach and they use, now they’re becoming more ingrained and becoming habits,” Alex Van Pelt said Thursday. ‘I’m really proud of the way they protected. We had two sacks [against the Jets], they weren’t real sacks in my opinion. I didn’t think those were on the offensive line.”
Who takes a snap first for NE ? Barmore, Strange, Peppers or Andrews (Yes I’m aware Andrews is out until ‘25). – 1stStateSoxFan
With that being said about the offensive line, I’ll still go Strange here. It’s likely between him and Barmore in this hypothetical, but blood clots certainly makes it harder to predict.
I realize the defense has been ravaged by injuries and trades, but what kind of schemes are you seeing from our defense? Do you see a Belichickian influence still or something different? – GAPatriot
We talked about some of their defensive changes in last week’s mailbag, which was highlighted by more base personnel usage. But from a schematic side of things, New England’s defense relied on more two deep safety looks early in the year and seemed to add different coverage schemes from new-era defenses like Baltimore.
However, as Davon Godchaux said, they got cut out the “cute shit” against the Jets. Credit to DeMarcus Covington for getting back to the basics with a 48 percent man-to-man rate — often with a post safety. They also included several Belichickian third-down coverages such as bracketing both Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson to lead to a Christian Elliss sack.
That’s the formula they should continue to lean on moving forward as they have the corners to hold up in coverage while getting out of the two-high safety shells will put another body in the box to stop the run game or as a blitzer.
Do you have any sense about how Hightower is doing with the ILBs, from a peer or player perspective? Can you pinpoint any techniques that he may have used as a player being implemented on his unit? – PatsHowYouDoIt
Players have seemed to enjoy working with him. Fellow linebacker’s coach Drew Wilkins predicted back in training camp that Hightower would be a NFL head coach one day.
“I think as a coach the sky’s the limit for him. This guy is going to be a head coach in the NFL,” Wilkins said back in August. “He’s so smart. So gifted as a communicator. And understands the game at such a high level. … This is a superstar in the league that we’re all lucky to be around every day.”
As for Hightower, he has made sure to be available for anything his players need while continuing to soak up knowledge from coaches around him.
“First year, just continue to want to improve, give my guys whatever they need. I’ve said it before but whether it’s cutups, write ups, extra film time, whatever it is,” Hightower shared. “But at the same time earning and understanding what it is to be a coach. There’s a lot of small things that I’m able to pick up whether it’s from Mayo, [DeMarcus Covington], [Jerry Montgomery], Mike [Pellegrino], Drew [Wilkins] — everybody in that defensive staff.
“But not just those guys, Ben McAdoo, AVP, a lot of guys who’ve had a lot of experience in the league always just trying to lean and continue — like when I came into the league, I was a sponge to Mayo and [Devin McCourty] and [Matthew Slater] and [Vince Wilfork].
“Now I got a different form of sponge but still wanting to learn and wanting to gain the extra knowledge.”
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.