Sunday Patriots Notes: Jacoby Brissett personifies what new-era Pats want to be

Notes and thoughts on the Patriots, including the offensive line, rookie snaps, Marte Mapu’s potential return, and more.

Coming off the worst loss of the Jerod Mayo era, the New England Patriots had some extra time to recover and get back on the track. The results of that process will be seen on Sunday afternoon against the San Francisco 49ers.

Most of our attention this week was on that game. As for other stories that came up, let’s clean out the notebook.

Welcome to this week’s edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.

Jacoby Brissett personifies what new-era Pats want to be: The Patriots have spoken at length about how they want to be a physically and mentally tough football team, and few players represent that better than Jacoby Brissett. The team’s current starting quarterback has been under near-constant fire the first three weeks of the 2024 season, and yet managed to get back up every time.

This ability has resonated with his teammates, and helped set the tone for an offense that is still finding its own.

“He’s a tough S.O.B.,” said tight end Austin Hooper. “For that guy to peel himself up off the turf like that time and time again, it’s impressive, man. You to see some of those hits on tape it’s like, ‘Jeez.’ He’s a very tough guy.

“When you have a guy like that who’s always in it, it builds juice. So, we’re all in this locker room really proud about how how tough that guy is sitting in there doing it week in, week out. I don’t think there’s been a single week where he hasn’t come out without taking a big-time, NFL-style collision. And he doesn’t say anything about it. Just gets right back up, good attitude, cool, communicating with the guys, and next play.”

Brissett’s toughness is nothing the Patriots experience for the first time. He also showcased it upon joining the team as a third-round rookie in 2016.

Back then, he tore a ligament in his right thumb in his first career start versus the Houston Texans. Nonetheless, he still managed to suit up and lead the team back onto the field a week later against the Buffalo Bills. The injury later required surgery.

This latest physical challenge — getting sacked a combined nine times through three games — is therefore nothing new. His mindset reflects that as well.

“I just keep getting up,” he told reporters this week, while also acknowledging that the team still has yet to figure out its identity.

“We’re still learning who we are as a group. We’re still trying to put together what we are, and our identity, and things like that. Over time, building all those elements into our game plans and finding ways to do it in full is the plan.”

While his future as starting quarterback is uncertain with first-round rookie Drake Maye looming in the background, Brissett has been the leader the new-era Patriots needed.

The quarterback is not the problem with pass protection: Brissett has been pressured on 36 of 84 dropbacks so far this season, but he has done a good job of not getting himself into trouble. As the following analysis using data from Pro Football Focus shows, Brissett can be blamed for only around 8 percent of those pressures.

The flip-side of that is obvious: the offensive line has had a rough time. Using total dropbacks under pressure, we can see that Brissett ranks 11th despite being seventh among qualifying NFL quarterbacks in terms of sack avoidance.

Instability remains a major concern up front: The Patriots’ issues along the offensive line have been discussed ad nauseam going all the way back to the offseason. Heading into Week 4, little has changed: the group continues to struggle with personnel stability.

On Sunday against the 49ers, the Patriots will again be without starting left tackle Vederian Lowe and also miss left guard Michael Jordan — the latter already an injury stand-in for starter Sidy Sow (who himself replaced an injured Cole Strange). Sow is expected to return this week, but the tackle position remains a major concern given that backup Caedan Wallace is also questionable to play because of a knee injury.

That might mean that post-cutdown waiver claim Demontrey Jacobs might be the next man up against a talented defensive front.

“The first thing is he’s a big man,” said head coach Jerod Mayo. “That’s the first step. But he does a good job. He’s very coachable, I would say. He does a good job throwing his hands. Look, are there some things to work on? 100 percent. But his mentality and attitude has been great. He’s been getting better every single day.”

If Jacobs does indeed start at left tackle, he would be the fourth player in four games to man that spot for the Patriots this season. And as Zack Cox of the Boston Herald pointed out, the 13th different starting offensive tackle in total since 2022.

‘Phenomenal’ Matthew Slater leaving his fingerprints all over New England’s special teams: Long-time special teams ace Matthew Slater announced his retirement earlier this offseason, but shortly thereafter returned to the Patriots as a special assistant to head coach Jerod Mayo. What exactly that role entails is not known, but it is clear that he has his hands all over the organization.

For special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, the 39-year-old has been an invaluable source of knowledge and leadership.

“He’s phenomenal,” Springer told WEEI this week. “Just his insight and whatever I need from him, because he’s pulled in so many directions. He’s a guy who’s so well respected; Coach Mayo’s using him a lot. Everybody in the building uses him for everything, and he helps with the leadership council. He’s not going to be in my room game planning all day and things like that. But what he does do is he’s always on the field helping me out.

“He’s always giving me insight on little things I might have forgotten in a meeting to mention, or a little technique that I’m teaching where he comes in and says, ‘Hey man, I’ve done it like that before and it doesn’t work like that.’ ‘Alright, how do you think we should teach it, Slater?’ And even on game days on the sideline he’s phenomenal.”

Patriots have big plans for Marte Mapu: Having lost Ja’Whaun Bentley to a season-ending pectoral injury, the Patriots linebacker corps is in need of some added depth. That might come in the form of Sione Takitaki and Marte Mapu, who will both be eligible to come off the physically unable to perform and injured reserve list, respectively, next week.

It seems the club has some big plans for the latter in particular.

“I thought he was having a great spring. Had a great offseason,” defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said about Mapu. “And now, hopefully for us, he can continue to go in the direction we want making that Year 2 leap. He was Year 1 last year. Hopefully, he brings an element where he can play on first, second, third down and special teams for us.”

A third-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2023, Mapu saw action in all 17 games as a rookie. While playing primarily on special teams, he also was used in a multi-faceted defensive role blurring the line between linebacker and safety.

Patriots lacking in young snap department: Once he returns to the Patriots’ active roster, Mapu will be one of around 30 total players on the team with four or fewer years of experience. While that number is quite large and more than half of the 53-man squad, New England’s young talent is not seeing as much action as one would hope..

The following breakdown illustrates this, with the Patriots ranking just 26th in the NFL in terms of cumulative offense and defensive snaps out of players in that category.

Keion White has a fan in Kyle Shanahan: Compared to other teams in the NFL, the Patriots lack talent that can be classified as “blue chip.” They do have some promising talent under contract, though, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Among that group is defensive lineman Keion White, who has been New England’s most disruptive player this season. His versatility and ability to impact the quarterback has, naturally, also not gone unnoticed with the Patriots’ Week 4 opponent.

“He’s a hell of a player,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “This is the first time I’ve really been able to watch him this year. He’s great on the outside, sets the edge as well. And him as a rusher on the inside, too, is just as scary. So, he’s a hell of a player.”

Tyrone Wheatley Jr. settlement number shows significant salary decrease: The Patriots reached an injury settlement with offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. earlier this month, and salary cap expert Miguel Benzan recently reported some of the terms of that agreement: Wheatley’s salary decreased from $915,000 to $101,667, likewise also lowering his salary cap charge to only $111,747.

Revisiting Anfernee Jennings four years after his first 49ers game: A third-round rookie at the time, Anfernee Jennings saw the most extended action of his career up until that point the last time the Patriots met the 49ers. He was on the field for 80 percent of New England’s defensive snaps for the 33-6 loss in 2020, a number he would not surpass until Week 6 of the 2023 season.

That particular game was not the only reason why he moved into more of a backup role the next three years, but it was a struggle. Still, Jennings had a hard time going up against San Francisco’s wide zone attack: his inability to set a consistent edge contributed to the 49ers gaining almost 200 yards on the ground.

Fast forward to the 2024 season, and Jennings is not only a starting edge but as stout a run defender as you will find in New England or elsewhere.

In the locker room and stuff, he’s pretty quiet. But when he’s on the field, he’s an intense player, and I love that about him,” said Jerod Mayo.

“He’s a very good run defender out there on the edge. He does a good job with that and also has a level pass rush. He is a very smart player. I don’t think we talk about that enough. Anfernee has played mainly as an outside back or defensive end, but you could easily — from a mental standpoint — put him off the ball because he understands the defense as a whole.”

Setting up the week ahead: The Patriots will fly back to New England immediately after their game against San Francisco, but they won’t have a lot of rest: they will host the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium next Sunday.

Leading up to that game, New England will hit the practice fields three times; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, followed by the classic pre-game walkthrough on Saturday.

In addition, as noted above, the first batch of players will become eligible to return off the several injury reserve lists: wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, offensive lineman Cole Strange, defensive tackle Christian Barmore, linebacker Sione Takitaki, and linebacker/safety Marte Mapu.