The New England Patriots had a rare Monday practice this week, a chance, coach Jerod Mayo said, to work on themselves without spending too much time on a game plan for the looming trip to San Francisco to face the 49ers (where the Pats are 10.5-point underdogs).
Such is the benefit of a mini-bye after their Thursday night game last week. The team had the weekend off, then regrouped Monday as Mayo kicked things off with a team meeting.
He talked about setting expectations and reminded his team “of what we are.”
LIVE: Jerod Mayo Press Conference 9/23: https://t.co/dGoNzri5f4
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 23, 2024
The Patriots will be off Tuesday, then begin a normal week of preparation with three straight practices starting Wednesday before flying to San Francisco on Friday evening, a day earlier than they do for most trips.
So as the team resets for Sunday’s game, let’s look at which players have impressed through the first three weeks and which are headed in the wrong direction based on preseason expectations.
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Risers
P Bryce Baringer
It’s never great to start this kind of list with a punter, but for the Patriots to win the way they’re trying to — with ball control, a lack of turnovers and good defense — they’ll have to play well on special teams. And Baringer has been very good, arguably the best punter in the NFL through three weeks. He ranks fourth in average punt distance (52.3 yards), is fifth in net punting average (45.6) and is tied for second in punts downed inside the 20 (nine). Only two punters have sent one farther than Barringer’s season best of 67 yards. Perhaps most impressive is that even though Barringer has punted it 10 times, tied for the most in the NFL, he has just one touchback. The Patriots are likely going to play in a lot of low-scoring games where field position matters, so Baringer’s hot start is important.
RB Antonio Gibson
The Patriots added Gibson in free agency mostly to be a pass-catching, third-down back. But he has impressed fans and coaches with some hard runs and shiftiness out of the backfield. Between his play and Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumbling issue (more on him later), Gibson could eat into Stevenson’s large workload. Frankly, Gibson has outplayed Stevenson by a large margin. Gibson’s 6.2 yards per carry are meaningfully more than Stevenson’s 4.3, and Gibson has a better EPA per play and success rate. Gibson’s carries have turned into first downs 30 percent of the time compared with Stevenson’s 21 percent.
DE Keion White
This one should be fairly obvious. He has probably been the team’s best overall player. His four sacks are tied for third most in the NFL, and he has been dominant in the running game, too. His 12 quarterback pressures are the most on the team. It seemed like a lofty hope that White would experience a massive jump in performance after the Pats traded Matthew Judon. But that’s exactly what has happened.
CB Jonathan Jones
Judging cornerbacks is a bit more subjective since you’re usually playing pretty well when you go unnoticed and the other team isn’t throwing at you. But that said, Jones has been the team’s best cornerback through three weeks. He just turned 31, and corners generally don’t have lengthy careers into their 30s, but Jones is still playing at a high level. He’s in a contract year, too, which could set him up to be a potential trade piece at the deadline.
Fallers
Left tackle
Sure, you could pick any spot on the offensive line for this category, but this position has been the biggest issue through three weeks. And that’s despite having very low expectations before the season. Chukwuma Okorafor didn’t work out, Vederian Lowe has been bad and is injured, and third-round pick Caedan Wallace has struggled in his switch from right to left tackle. It’s not clear how the Patriots are going to get much better here besides hoping Wallace improves as the season goes along.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson
Overall, I’m not too worried about Stevenson and his play for the rest of the season. But through the first three games, he deserves a spot here. A lot of his stats are outlined above, but the most important one is his number of fumbles. He’s put the ball on the ground in each of the Patriots’ three games. Mayo, Alex Van Pelt and company know they can’t afford to turn the ball over given their lack of firepower on offense, and Stevenson is jeopardizing that. He improved his ball security last year (only one fumble), but it was an issue in 2022 when he fumbled four times.
RT Mike Onwenu
Onwenu has probably been the Patriots’ best offensive lineman, but his play has been underwhelming given the lofty expectations with which he began the season. He has allowed six pressures through three games. By comparison, he averaged 1.5 pressures allowed per game last season and 0.82 pressure per game the year before that, so he’s well behind his usual pace.
WR K.J. Osborn
This offseason, the Patriots failed to land the true No. 1 receiver they wanted, but they added Osborn in free agency hoping he’d take on a meaningful role on offense. Though he has been a willing blocker and a valued voice in the locker room, Osborn hasn’t brought much of anything to the passing game. Despite running the second-most routes of any wide receiver on the team, he has just four catches and ranks fifth on the Pats in receiving yards (28). He has totaled just 6 yards after the catch. If that doesn’t turn around starting Sunday, look for Osborn’s playing time to decrease.
(Photo of Bryce Baringer: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
