The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about the run game, Javon Baker, and more.

The New England Patriots are officially over the halfway point of the regular season, sitting at 2-7 with eight games left on the schedule. As they look to close things out on a high note, there is plenty of work to be done and questions to answer.

With that, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag.

Beyond getting Maye some experience and keeping him healthy, what is the organization’s #1 goal for the rest of the season? – Matt1102

The Patriots entered 2024 knowing they were realistically not a Super Bowl contender. They did make it known one of their key goals for the season was to lay a foundation for them to build off of for years to come.

Through nine weeks they may have found the biggest piece of that foundation in quarterback Drake Maye. The rookie came into the league with all the tools to be a franchise quarterback and his play through his first four starts would suggest the Patriots may have their guy.

Now it’s time for someone to join him.

Beyond Maye, the rest of the rookie class remains full of question marks. In the wide receiver department, Ja’Lynn Polk has struggled mightily while Javon Baker can’t see the field. Similar story along the offensive line as guard Layden Robinson has struggled in pass protection and Caedan Wallace remains sidelined due to injury.

Late round picks are even bigger lottery tickets, but Marcellas Dial has been a pure special teamer while Jaheim Bell has been quiet — although the tight end has slowly been trending in the right direction.

With eight games left on the schedule, having just one of those players end the year strong enough that New England can confidently pencil them into their lineup for next season would be a win.

“It’s a fine line. You want to put your best players out there to win each week, at the same time you want to bring along your guys that you think have a future,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said Thursday. “So it’s really an opportunity for those guys to go out and showcase — are they going to be a part of us moving forward?

“So there is that fine line of playing the veteran guys and then not developing the young guys, or attempting to develop the young guys throughout the course of the season. That’s where we are right now trying to still continue to develop those guys.”

Brian, what is the path forward for 2024? Where should I be hoping for improvement? Better play calling? Fewer penalties? Throw me a bone here. – 1stStateSoxFan

As the hope is some of the younger players continue their development, I would hope for some improvement from the coaching staff to end the season.

Bumps in the road were to be expected by a first-year head coach, first-year coordinator on defense and special teams, and first-time offensive play caller. But Jerod Mayo has said countless times he does not want to see “error repeaters” and him and his staff are the top offenders.

Nothing signals that more than the reoccurring issues in the end of the first half which the offense has consistently botched. In Tennessee, New England got the ball back with 1:48 remaining at their own 15-yard line. Maye started the drive with 14- and nine-yard completions to Kendrick Bourne to get things moving, then the drive stalled.

The reason? Back-to-back run calls on 2nd-and-1 and 3rd-and-1 that were both stuffed.

“I mean that, to me, that was the most disappointing two plays of the day,” Van Pelt said. “We had 2nd-and-1 in a two-minute drive, we had two direct runs downhill and we didn’t pick up a yard. So we got to be better there. Anytime you hand it off and go straight downhill you expect to get a yard even if it’s poorly blocked. But we have to be better there.”

As Van Pelt hints at, the execution was poor — specifically on the 2nd-and-1 gun run where a Titans defender splits Michael Jordan and Vederian Lowe to make the stop. While the OC isn’t wrong, the issue from this point of view, however, comes back to the run call in general.

With 1:37 left in the half, the focus should not be the first down. The focus should be on picking up as many yards as possible — especially as the short yardage situation provides an ideal time to dial up a shot play. And with the way Maye started the drive and was making plays with his legs throughout the game, he likely would have picked up the first down regardless.

This extends just beyond Van Pelt in these specific situations, as Mayo’s overall plan seems to be lacking at times despite being in the game manager role on the sideline. Just against the Titans, Mayo’s decision to play into the wind in overtime may have cost them a 60+ yard walk off touchdown as Maye’s final interception was under thrown into the wind.

We’d certainly also like to see more in terms of schematic changes, but the coaching staff failing to control some of the controllables early on has been frustrating and something that hopefully gets better with more experience.

With them wanting to play the kids, where is Javon Baker? Feel like he was supposed to play last week and we barely saw him – Mike

Baker did see his first offensive snaps since Week 2 against the Titans. However, he totaled just four total snaps and ran two routes. The good news? He got open on both — including a potential deep shot — but could not get the ball on either due to pass protection issues up front.

#Patriots rookie WR Javon Baker played just four offensive snaps on Sunday.

He had a chance for a big play off a play-action shot but the pass protection (with six O-Lineman) couldn't hold up. pic.twitter.com/H6aBZYfYut

— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) November 4, 2024

With the skillset Baker brings to the offense and lack of production from the rest of the receiver room, it’s worth seeing more of the rookie moving forward.

“He’s an explosive player,” Van Pelt said of Baker. “He comes off the ball extremely hard, he stresses defensive backs in coverage. He’s elusive, he is really wiggly at the top of the routes, and can create separation. There’s a lot to like.”

With the the run game woes, offensively speaking, it’s easy to say it’s the oline’s fault. But, where does the line fall when looking between Embree (running backs) and Peters (oline)? Can that even be pin pointed because they both take their direction from Van Pelt? It just seems like the runners, themselves, aren’t producing, aren’t viewing the field well. Stevenson does not look healthy to me. Doesn’t look like he trusts planting his feet. Peters was a package deal with Van Pelt and am guessing he gets another shot. Any feelings about Peters’ standing with the team? – PatsHowYouDoIt

A couple things to unpack here. To start, I wouldn’t put much of the blame on Stevenson. In each of their last four games, New England has had negative yards before contact to total a league’s worst -46 rushing yards before contact.

Most of the blame falls on the offensive line from this perspective, where limited continuity and overall talent plays a role. After Michael Jordan’s play has fallen off at left guard in recent weeks, New England appears set to make another change this week — with Mike Onwenu at left guard and Layden Robinson at right guard — to spark the ground game.

With that personnel up front, the thought of leaning more into the downhill power run game instead of their outside zone runs could also be a helpful solution.

This week would be a good time to make that change against a Chicago Bears defense that struggles against the run — specifically allowing 7.0 yards per carry against pullers. We’d expect to see some of that with Onwenu on the move.

As for offensive line coach Scott Peters, he has done a strong job bringing players like Vederian Lowe and Trey Jacobs along to help overcome injuries. Assuming they add talent up front next offseason which then leads to increased continuity, I would like to see how it looks under Peters again. If AVP does come back, Peters should definitely get that opportunity.

There obviously seems to be some major form of dysfunction revolving around the Patriots WR group, do you see it as one bad apple spoiling the whole lot or is it more likely a combination of poor coaching/offensive coordinator incompetence? Maybe all the above? – KissBillsRings

I attribute this to being a young room in general. Out of the seven receivers on the 53-man roster, it consists of two rookies, two second-year receivers, and one third-year receiver. Out of the two veterans, Kendrick Bourne wasn’t always with the team as he rehabbed his torn ACL and K.J. Osborn was upset with his role.

Pair all that with a first-time NFL wide receivers coach (Tyler Hughes) and it’s not a total surprise.