Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was willing to say what everyone was thinking after Sunday’s 41-21 loss to the Texans.
Mayo said center Ben Brown “probably was our best lineman yesterday.”
Yes, that’s the same Ben Brown who practiced twice with the Patriots after taking a red-eye flight from Las Vegas to Boston on Wednesday night and was officially signed off the Raiders’ practice squad Thursday afternoon.
“This is one of those things I’ve never seen it before, a guy being able to come in here after four or five days and be able to become the starting center. He did a great job,” Mayo said. “He did a good job for us. He did a good job all through the week, during practice and performed pretty well.”
That’s obviously an indictment on the state of the Patriots’ offensive line in general right now. They were starting Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Michael Jordan at left guard, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Demontrey Jacobs at right tackle around Brown on Sunday. After Lowe went down with an ankle injury, Zachary Thomas, who primarily has played guard and jumbo tight end for the Patriots, was inserted at left tackle.
Mayo said on WEEI that the Patriots still have not settled on an offensive line.
Per PFF’s in-game charting, Brown was the Patriots’ only offensive lineman who didn’t allow a pressure against the Texans. The Patriots’ offensive line as a whole struggled to open space in the running game, but they allowed their lowest pressure rate of the season at 33%.
Jacobs let up four pressures, Thomas and Onwenu allowed three, Jordan let up two and Lowe allowed one. Jacobs allowed two sacks, including a strip sack, while Thomas let up one.
Lowe will undergo an MRI on Monday morning to determine the severity of his ankle injury, per Mayo.
Thomas had a tougher time in his assignment Sunday.
“I would say there were some ups and some downs,” Mayo said. “Once again, he hasn’t done it a lot for us. But just being ready on the sideline and hopping in there against two good defensive ends, he did OK.”
Thomas and Jacobs were both claimed off waivers after roster cuts in late August. Jordan started the season on the Patriots’ practice squad. Onwenu began the spring at right tackle and training camp at right guard. He was flipped to right tackle before Week 1 and was moved back over to guard in Week 5.
Brown was replacing Nick Leverett, who allowed 10 pressures in his Week 5 start after captain David Andrews went on injured reserve. Jordan briefly came out of Sunday’s game with an injury and was replaced by Sidy Sow. Jordan did wind up finishing the game.
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