The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about the defense, trade deadline, and more.
It was a tumultuous week for the New England Patriots, which started with head coach Jerod Mayo labeling his team’s performance as soft in London. The coaches frustration was echoed by his team, who spent the week making their displeasure felt through their words and on social media.
Through it all, one common theme was winning will help fix it all. New England’s next chance to do so will come this week against the New York Jets, who dismantled the Patriots 24-3 back in Week 3 on Thursday Night Football.
With that, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag.
Do you chalk up the defensive woes from the London game as a bad/off night or is it telling of deeper problems moving forward? It seems they got to England a bit late and players had problems managing their private times. The D looked gassed early and the result supports those concerns.
What is your opinion on Covington’s schemes and adjustments? – PatsHowYouDoIt
The biggest issue for New England’s defense is currently coming down the middle of the field. That’s not a major surprise considering they are without Christian Barmore, Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Jabrill Peppers — a talented trio of interior defense along all three levels.
Since Bentley’s injury, New England has allowed just over 167 rushing yards per game. As Jerod Mayo has noted for multiple weeks, the tackling (10 misses against Jacksonville) and run fits have been bad. That’s been noticeable at the linebacker level where Raekwon McMillan and Christian Elliss have been thrusted into larger roles while Jahlani Tavai’s level of play has dropped with more responsibility.
There are some head scratchers in terms of scheme too. We’ll talk about the Patriots lack of pressure soon, but New England has also played nearly 40 percent of their defensive snaps in base personnel this year. That’s up from roughly 25 percent last season, partly as teams are now forcing New England into these packages as they’re allowing over six yards per play.
“When you look at the personnel groups of what they’re running — 11, 12, 13 — that dictates, defensively, what personnel groups you’re in,” defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said. “If they’re in a bigger personnel grouping, you’re going to be in a bigger personnel grouping.”
As seen in the yards per play, New England hasn’t had much success slowing down the opposition in base personnel packages. That has included teams hitting explosive plays in the pass game against zone coverage — where Trevor Lawerence hit his 58-yard completion to Brian Thomas Jr. in London — and attacking New England’s limited personnel along the linebacker level.
Back in Week 3, the Jets were the first team to really force New England into these heavier groupings. Covington expects New York to deploy a similar strategy this week, so we’ll see if the DC has new answers this go around.
Am I correct in thinking the defense isn’t putting consistent pressure on other teams’ quarterbacks? And if I am correct, is it more of a personnel issue, or more of a scheme/coaching issue? If so, what would you do to try to correct it? (3 questions in 1!) – jondw
You’re correct, Jon. New England has had a problems the last few weeks pressuring the quarterback which included Trevor Lawerence facing just a 19 percent pressure rate last week and taking zero (0!) quarterback hits.
Similar to above, the personnel is definitely part of the problem. Beyond trading their best edge rusher in Matthew Judon, New England is without Christian Barmore, who led the team with 49 pressures last season. Ja’Whaun Bentley, who is out indefinitely, was also fourth in pressures last year as a big part of their pressure schemes.
But, there are plenty of coaching related issues as well when it comes to scheming up pressure. Last season, New England was the best defense in football in generating free rushers — often with their creeper/simulated pressure packages.
For whatever reason, New England’s production off those looks has tanked near the bottom of the league this year. Teams have had no problem either blocking them or have easily accessible answers to these looks.
Some of it again ties back to personnel, but the staff has to do of better job of scheming up a pass rush. To tie the last two answers together, we’d like to see more of a shift back to last year’s structure with more man coverage while trying to generate pressure with five rushers.
I have not been able to watch many games but K. White was a menace the first few games. I don’t remember his name being called last Sunday. What does the fillm show. Have other teams figured out if they concentrate on him, that the rest of the DL will not hurt them? – oldpatsfan23
The fall off of the pass rush also has some to do with Keion White. After logging 17 pressures the first month, White has totaled just six over the last three weeks.
Beyond just his general inconsistencies as a rusher, White saw his playing time decrease last week to a season-low 69 percent. After being at the point of contact for some explosive gains against on the ground, New England opted for a bigger body along the interior on early downs. He’s also seen his fair share of snaps where he drops off the line in zone coverage.
If the personnel allows them, White seems probably best suited as a standup edge defender on early downs that can kick inside as an interior pass rusher on passing downs. Either way, New England’s defense needs him to get back to how he played over the first month of the season.
Assume for a moment you’re not allowed to answer ‘all of the above’ … which one is in over his head the most: Wolf, Mayo, Van Pelt, or Covington? – Matt1102
I’d like to see more from the defense. That includes some schematic changes we just discussed from Covington and Mayo getting more involved on that side of the ball. I understand he wants to be a CEO-type head coach, but the defense that he helped co-coordinate the past few seasons needs help.
It was also noteworthy that Mayo was asked after the Jaguars game if he would make a change at defensive play caller and did not say no. He did, however, give support to Covington on Wednesday.
“DeMarcus is our defensive coordinator,” Mayo said. “Look, I have ownership of the defense, the offense and special teams. That’s how I look at it. Those guys are coordinators, but once again, ultimately, it falls on me.”
IF Tampa Bay comes calling for a WR, would we trade Kendrick Bourne for a 4th ? – stevethumb
Trading Kendrick Bourne has been a popular discussion. I get that he may be one of your more valuable assets, but I also think he’s worthwhile to keep around to make Drake Maye’s life easier on the field and as the veteran receiver in a young room (that seems to be unraveling).
If you could get a third or fourth-round pick in return, that may outweigh the previous points. But, after DeAndre Hopkins went to Kansas City for a fifth-round selection, I’m not sure you’ll get more than that for KB.
Long term, it feels wrong to dive into draft position talk already, but short term it is too depressing to talk about current problems with the team, so I’ll settle for more trade deadline talk!In your ideal world, which current Patriots are traded this season and for what value? And which players (if any) are the Patriots trading for? Both questions assume best case, yet realistic value. – jpage1003
Beyond Bourne, there may be movement in New England’s receiver room. Tyquan Thornton has fallen out of the rotation but the return may not be anything more than a conditional seventh-round draft pick. Still would be worth it for the roster spot and capital.
Same goes for veteran K.J. Osborn, who voiced some frustration with his role this week and seemed to be one who wouldn’t mind if he got traded. That deal would also likely be a late-round draft pick or pick swap.
Elsewhere, I don’t think the return would be worthwhile for moving off of veteran leaders like Jonathan Jones or Deatrich Wise. Joshua Uche could fall on the other end of the spectrum where the pick would be more valuable.
As for potential targets, I don’t think we’ll see any big moves to “buy” along the lines of a Tee Higgins. We floated Michael Mayer as a low-end buy move in last week’s mailbag but that may be more of an offseason move as the tight end resides on the NFI currently.
If you do want to touch on the draft quickly: keep rooting for all the college QB’s. With New England looking set to hold a top pick, it’s a prime opportunity to receive a massive haul in a trade down. The biggest haul, however, would likely come if there’s a quarterback available that other teams deem worthy of moving up for.
Where things currently stand, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders may be the only high first-round pick in this year’s class. Someone like Georgia’s Carson Beck, Miami’s Cam Ward, or even Alabama’s Jalen Milroe closing the season strong would benefit New England’s trade downs odds — and potential return — greatly.
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.