Coming out of Tuesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles, the key takeaway was the inability of the offensive line for the New England Patriots to protect the quarterback. In competitive periods, the entire unit was soundly dominated. That has sounded the alarm bells to the ninth degree for how this offense may (or may not) function once the regular season rolls around.
In the second preseason exhibition of the summer on Thursday night, those concerns didn't exactly subside. In the 14-13 loss to Philly, the warts of New England's offensive line showed, particularly as the game went on and the second- and third-team combinations stepped onto the field. Patriots quarterbacks were sacked three times but faced substantial pressure throughout.
"There were definitely some ups and some downs," coach Jerod Mayo said postgame of the offensive line play. "I would say there's a dramatic drop-off, not really physically, but just knowing what to do between the first line and the second and third guys. They have to get better as a whole, as a unit. They just have to get better, and that comes from playing football games. We have another preseason game coming up. We're going to play. That's the only way you're going to get better at football is playing football."
While Mayo noted a drop-off with the second- and third-team combinations, the starters didn't exactly light the world on fire either. New England started the night with Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle with Jacoby Brissett under center. Specifically, Okorafor and Lowe were noticeably beaten early.
After three lackluster drives with Brissett, that combination stayed in the game when Drake Maye entered, minus Andrews, who was substituted for Nick Leverett. With Maye under center, Lowe committed a false-start penalty on his opening drive and was later beaten in the third quarter, allowing a massive blow to the rookie QB.
Pass protection is the main issue with this offensive line as Mayo and Co. continue to search for their top five options. With that said, snapping the ball was a problem when Andrews departed as well. New England fumbled three snaps (recovering two), and the final proved to be the dagger in any shot of a comeback as Liam Fornadel and Bailey Zappe couldn't get in sync as the Eagles recovered the loose ball.
Of course, every team wants sturdy play along the offensive line, but it's even more important when a rookie quarterback is involved. If someone like Maye is under siege throughout a given game, it could hurt his development. While questions still linger over how this line will perform once these games start counting for real and the competition ramps up, Mayo noted that the play upfront won't impede whenever Maye is ready to leap up the depth chart to QB1.
"For me, we always talk about competition, and that's at all spots," said Mayo. "So, even if Drake beats out Jacoby [Brissett], I mean, he earned that role. We don't really take that into consideration. When he's ready to go, and if he's better than Jacoby, then he'll play; he'll start."