The Patriots are off to an 0-2 start to the season for the first time since 2001 after a 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night.
The offensive line was banged up going into the game, essentially giving Mac Jones zero chance to get things going. And for the second week in a row, the Patriots were close, just not close enough when it came to executing plays and trying to steal a win.
So, where do the Patriots go from here? In the latest episode of Eye On Foxborough, MassLive Patriots reporters Chris Mason and Mark Daniels share what they believe should be New England’s next steps so it doesn’t fall to 0-3 next weekend.
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“They need to add depth to the offensive line. They do. The tackling on defense wasn’t good enough either,” Mason said. “But ultimately, this is just kind of what the roster is. This is who they are and it’s why I picked them to go 8-9 this year, just looking at the roster from the start. There’s no magic fix here. They are who they are.”
Daniels saw a small silver lining, but he marked it as the Patriots’ “only hope.”
“The only hope is that Michael Onwenu and Cole Strange get to full strength, Trent Brown gets to full strength and whoever you have at right tackle is frankly better because your offensive line is healthy. A healthy, good Michael Onwenu can help you at right tackle. A honestly, maybe it’s Riley Reiff. Riley Reiff could come back in Week 5 and start at right tackle and maybe he’s an improvement. You are paying … your second highest paid tackle is Riley Reiff. … They need to get Riley Reiff back.
“But I think the hope here is a healthy offensive line opens up the run game, which makes it easier on the pass game, because Mac Jones isn’t throwing deep,” Daniels added. “And people are very critical of Mac’s arm strength. … They can’t throw it deep right now. They don’t have the talent up front in the trenches. So for me: Get healthy, maybe get Reiff back, maybe a Connor McDermott or La’el Collins and really just hope for the best. Hopefully you can get going because it’s one thing to start 0-2. But over these next four weeks, if you can go 1-3 or 2-2, things look different. If you lose to the Jets this weekend I think it’s over and we move into the rest of the season talking about Bill Belichick and what needs to happen with him.”
Mason agreed that Week 3 against the 1-1 New York Jets is a big game, but isn’t sold that Reiff is the answer.
Also in the episode: Mason and Daniels give their stars of the game and try to explain the benching of Demario Douglas.
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