We’re running a mailbag on Thursdays during the season. If you have questions on the Patriots, NFL, or want gripe about past answers, email cmason@masslive.com or tweet @bychrismason. Now let’s get to this week’s questions!
How would this season have been different if the Patriots had signed Sam Darnold to be their place-holder quarterback instead of Jacoby Brissett? He might have taken it because he’d have been more likely to play than he was in Minnesota — Charlie G.
Kicking the mailbag off by taking a field trip to an alternate universe? OK, let’s get weird!
So those are two very comparable one-year contracts, but honestly, I think both sides would probably be worse off than they are right now.
The Patriots current offensive situation is a lot like New York’s when Darnold was seeing ghosts with the Jets, hence why Drake Maye is still watching from the bench in Foxborough. New England is currently allowing pressure on 44.8% of drop backs (2nd worst). Patriots wide receivers are currently getting 3.0 yards of separation (4th worst). And Jacoby Brissett has an average of 2.44 seconds to throw before each pressure (4th worst).
Does Sam Darnold cure all those ills?
I don’t think so. You could make an argument that the Patriots are 2-1 instead of 1-2 with quarterback play of Darnold’s caliber this season — even Tom Brady ain’t winning that Thursday Night Game in the Meadowlands — but the reclamation project wouldn’t likely have this same MVP-esque start in Foxborough.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell is a master at bringing the best out of quarterbacks, and that’s unfolding before our eyes with Darnold. There’s no quarterback whisperer that can match O’Connell in Foxborough right now, so it’d be awfully presumptive to think he’d take the same massive leap.
Beyond that, Brissett has handled things just about as well as possible thus far in New England, both on and off the field. He did enough to upset the Bengals in Week 1, took the Seahawks to overtime in Week 2, and despite the pummeling he’s taken from a shoddy offensive line, Brissett has never thrown them under the bus. He’s been an exceptional teammate in the face of adversity and just keeps peeling himself up of the turf.
“(Brissett) has handled himself like a true professional,” Jerod Mayo said. “We had a captain’s meeting today, and it wasn’t like a big kumbaya type of meeting. It was more of a, ‘Let’s continue to get better each and every week,’ and I think that was really the main goal going into the season. I didn’t know what our record would be at this time, but our goal was to get better every week. Now, obviously, it was a poor showing in New York, but we’ll see what this team is made of going forward.”
Most importantly, Brissett has been an terrific mentor to Maye. At 31 years old, Brissett knows he’s keeping the seat warm for the No. 3 overall pick and continues to empower him regardless. Maye’s development is the most important thing for the future of this franchise, bar none. Would Darnold help shepherd Maye the same way if felt he was truly competing with the rookie?
We’ll never know because this is an alternate universe, but I doubt he’d do it as well as Brissett has.
What’s next for the Pats after being big time exposed by the Jets? — Ed H.
Get back to running the ball, no matter how loud the wideouts gripe about targets. This team was built to run, and right now, it’s their only path to success.
In the Thursday night loss to the Jets, Alex Van Pelt called seven passes in the offense’s first nine plays. That led to a pair of punts. By the time the Patriots got the ball back for a third possession, they were in a 14-0 hole and had to keep throwing. It was a recipe for disaster; they need to get back to running the ball with Rhamondre Stevenson.
On the defensive side, they need to shore up the tackling. That loss was the worst display of tackling I can remember seeing from a Patriots team (14 missed) and the defense couldn’t get off the field accordingly. Best case scenario, that was an aberration and the product of a short Thursday Night Football turnaround, but it really needs to be cleaned up.
How do we all collectively keep falling for Tyquan Thornton? — Matt K.
Gotta keep reading the mailbag!
From Aug 23: Thornton has delivered a productive summer, but seeing will be believing with the 24-year-old wideout. His hype train shouldn’t get any real steam until he shows up on game day.
How will Sidy Sow’s return impact the offensive line play? — Conor M.
If Sow ready to roll, I’d expect him to slide back into the left guard spot. He won’t fix everything — especially after missing a month — but Sow was coming on strong at the end of his rookie season and could bring a bit more stability to the group.
Why can’t Jacoby Brissett get the ball out quicker? Terrible o-line? Throw the ball quicker. The panic behind the line from our QBs for 5 years is embarrassing — Benjamin G.
As referenced above, the wide receivers still aren’t getting any separation (4th worst in the league) and Brissett’s primary duty is to avoid turnovers. He can’t be forcing the ball to guys when they’re not getting open.
If there’s any gripe here, it could be with the play-calling — and the lack of quick game — but the Patriots haven’t had much success with screens and the like yet this season. That’s probably not a coincidence.
How do you think Joey Slye is doing? — Jordan K.
Hard to complain about anything at this point, right? Slye has gone 6-for-7 on field goals, 3-for-3 on extra points, and his lone miss was blocked by a free runner. Plus, Slye can hit from 65 yards in warmups, which makes being at the stadium way too early more entertaining.
As a longtime Patriots fan I am thinking of taking a break from the rebuild. Please advise on a team that would be more exciting to watch — Miller
Assuming you want to go NFC, the Lions are a lot of fun to watch under Dan Campbell.
However, I think your real answer here is to just start rooting against the Cowboys every week and hope Bill Belichick winds up in that gig. Belichick landing in Dallas would be worth getting some popcorn for, and you’d still have a Patriots connection every Sunday.
