FOXBORO, Mass. — Two days into training camp, New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo already felt the need to clear the air about the offensive struggles that have been so apparent early on.
Unprompted in the opening statement of his Friday morning news conference, Mayo stressed that it’s not uncommon for the defense to have the edge against the offense this early in camp, especially as the offense is implementing a brand-new scheme.
“One thing I will say is, and this has been historically (true), the defense has always been ahead of the offense (this early),” the first-year coach said, trying to get ahead of the narrative. “The defense will always be ahead of the offense.”
Yet it’s fair to note that all three practices this summer have concluded with the defense easily winning the day, limiting explosive plays and generally befuddling the offense.
Of course, pads aren’t even on yet. Coordinator Alex Van Pelt has had just three full camp sessions to run his offense. There’s still a long, long way to go.
LIVE: Jerod Mayo Press Conference 7/26: https://t.co/jtUXamMQAm
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 26, 2024
But for the Patriots, two things can be true this early in camp.
First, the defense is the backbone of this team, a group that is expected to finish as a top-10 unit. The offense, on the other hand, is undermanned at important positions and carries fewer expectations. The defense should be the better unit, the one winning a majority of practices.
Second, however, you’d like to see a bit more production and quality reps from the offense, even if it is still super early.
“The offense, obviously they’re still jelling together, and we have a lot of guys on defense that already know the scheme. You know, it’s harder to jump to conclusions. Are these guys going to be good? Are they bad? Like, I don’t know, and I don’t think you guys know either. I don’t even think the coaches out there know. But … it’s about competition and it’s about getting better each and every day, not only on the field, but also off the field.”
The problem for the offense so far has been twofold. The slightly less concerning part is the logistics of it. There have been too many pre-snap penalties and players lining up in the wrong spots. That’s probably a function of it still being July while learning a new scheme. There are six weeks to clean that up before the season starts.
“I’d say we’ve gotten better each day,” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. “I think today we only had one or two pre-snap penalties. So (we’re) just trying to clean up the offense. It’s going to be a work in progress, but each day we’ve gotten better.”
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The other potentially more worrisome aspect so far is the lack of explosiveness. There haven’t been many noteworthy plays from K.J. Osborn or JuJu Smith-Schuster. Fellow receiver Demario Douglas has been limited by an injury (which is the concern with him considering his size). And Kendrick Bourne remains out while recovering from last year’s ACL tear.
With that being the case, much of the Patriots offense has been underneath passes or checkdowns to the running back. Like the last two years, that can make the quarterback’s training camp completion percentage look good, but it doesn’t tend to translate to consistent success.
Even some of the highlights for the offense could be nitpicked. The best play of the day came when Drake Maye hit Ja’Lynn Polk down the sideline for a 40-yard completion. The crowd roared, and Polk celebrated. But Maye admitted afterward that it “wasn’t a great throw” because he didn’t look off the safety (No. 32, Jaylinn Hawkins). In a practice without tackling, Hawkins let up on Polk, but in a game, a safety in that situation could’ve delivered a crushing hit on the receiver.
“Gotta look off the safety there,” Maye said.
.@DrakeMaye2 going deeeep to @jpolk_22 🆙 pic.twitter.com/zH0RdidzW2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 26, 2024
But there’s a silver lining for the Patriots in the early going. The more positive outlook is that this is a good sign for a defense that’s going to be the strength of this team. Perhaps the unit won’t take a step back — even without Bill Belichick around.
“Man, they’re so talented,” Brissett said of the New England defense. “They’re fast, they’re long, they’ve got a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions, a lot of guys with range. As a defense, they present a lot of different looks for us. So it’s been tough. They’ve been doing a good job of limiting those big plays for us.”
This is where we must again note how early it is. There’s still so much time for the offense to get up to speed. And maybe the return of several injured players will help in the next month or two, like Douglas, Bourne and guard Cole Strange.
Besides, if we’re being honest, all that really matters for the Patriots this season is the progression and development of Drake Maye. If he shows signs in the next six months that he can be the franchise quarterback they hoped for, then the season will be a success and Eliot Wolf can spend the offseason building around him.
But it’s also fair to say there would be a large exhale at 1 Patriot Place if the offense comes out at Sunday’s practice and moves the ball more successfully.
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(Photo of Drake Maye and the offense: Eric Canha / USA Today)
