East Rutherford, N.J. – The Patriots are gearing up for a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Jets in the Meadowlands, where both teams are dealing with major injuries on a short week.
On Wednesday, New England ruled four players out en route to New Jersey. Then, the team placed pass-rusher Oshane Ximines (knee) on injured reserve and signed DE Jamree Kromah to the open spot on the 53-man roster. Therefore, with eight offensive linemen active, the Patriots only needed to list six players as inactive for Thursday night's game.
Those six inactive players are LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder), OT Vederian Lowe (knee), G Sidy Sow (ankle), DE Jamree Kromah, CB Marco Wilson, and QB Joe Milton (emergency third QB). The Patriots four questionable players heading into Thursday night are all officially active: C David Andrews (hip), RT Mike Onwenu (wrist), S Jabrill Peppers (shoulder), and DE Deatrich Wise Jr. (shoulder) are good to go. The Jets inactives are LB C.J. Mosley (toe), T Max Mitchell, T Carter Warren, RB Israel Abanikanda, DE Eric Watts, and CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse.
With the top options on the left side of the offensive line inactive, the Patriots couldn't afford to be down Andrews or Onwenu too. On paper, the Jets defensive front against New England's offensive line presents a huge mismatch in the home team's favor. Through two weeks, Gang Green has the number-one rated pressure rate (45.6%), while the Patriots rank 31st in pressure rate allowed (44.3%) and last in pass-blocking win rate; it's the NFL's best pass rush against the worst pass-blocking offensive line.
The Patriots are expected to start third-round pick Caedan Wallace at left tackle in place of Lowe. With the captain and Onwenu active, the rest of the line should remain the same as the first two games: LT Wallace, LG Jordan, C Andrews, RG Robinson, and RT Onwenu. New England's depth options on the offensive line are C/G Nick Leverett, T/G Zach Thomas, and OT Demontrey Jacobs.
Although putting it all on the rookie is unfair, Wallace's first career start is big for the franchise's future. The Penn State product has played 29 snaps in the first two games, mainly as a jumbo tight end, with a few snaps at left tackle late in Week 2. Wallace has held his own as a run blocker, but he's an unknown in pass protection for the time being.
After taking QB Drake Maye and WR Ja'Lynn Polk with their first two picks, New England selected Wallace, hoping the 24-year-old would develop into a starting tackle. This scribe still expects Wallace's long-term home to be at right tackle but is willing to keep the door open on the rookie being an answer on the left side. Lowe ranks 57th out of 68 qualified tackles in PFF grade: can Wallace be better than that?
If the third-rounder can elevate the left tackle spot, it would be a massive development for this offense. The Patriots have struggled to push the ball downfield largely due to pressure on QB Jacoby Brissett, so a better blindside protector could help make the offense more explosive.
The one advantage New England might have offensively is that the Jets defense is vulnerable against the run. Along with surrendering 180 rushing yards to the 49ers in a Week 1 loss, New York's depth along the defensive line is depleted. The Jets are down edge rusher Jermaine Johnson (Achilles) and star LB C.J. Mosley (toe), while the Jets still haven't settled a contract dispute with Pro Bowl EDGE Haason Reddick.
The interior of the Jets D-Line remains stout with stud DT Quinnen Williams, Javon Kinlaw, and Solomon Thomas. However, there isn't much depth there, while Johnson and Mosley's replacements aren't as seasoned against the run. Former first-rounder Will McDonald IV will replace Johnson. Although he had three sacks last week, McDonald is a 240-pound pass-rusher in a similar mold to Patriots pass-rush specialist Joshua Uche.
Given that the Jets are shorthanded and the run game is the offense's strength, one would expect New England to try running it down the Jets' throat. You could say that the Jets will be expecting that approach, but we'd still make them prove they can stop the run. Furthermore, the Pats should run it downhill rather than try to stretch the Jets out with outside zone because New York's defense is lighter and has good team speed.
At the skill positions, the Patriots, who rank dead-last in receptions (11) by wide receivers through two weeks, have all six wideouts active on Thursday night: K.J. Osborn, Ja'Lynn Polk, DeMario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, Javon Baker, and Kayshon Boutte. New England's lack of production by wide receivers has been a talking point this week, so one would expect them to get the receivers more involved against the Jets while potentially mixing and matching to find a hot hand.
Moving over to the defense, captain Ja'Whaun Bentley is expected to miss significant time due to a pectoral injury. With the Pats captain inactive, New England elevated LB Joe Giles-Harris from the practice squad. Giles-Harris made a strong roster push during camp and stood out during preseason games. He logged seven stops, an interception, two batted passes at the line, and a quarterback hurry in 125 snaps.
The Patriots will lean on veteran Raekwon McMillan to replace Bentley as an early-down MIKE linebacker, while Giles-Harris could take on some special teams responsibilities to lessen the load on McMillan in the kicking game. Giles-Harris played on five different special teams units during the preseason, so he can step in for McMillan and Ximines, two core special-teamers, in certain spots in the kicking game.
New England could get reinforcements at linebacker from the reserve lists in the near future. According to NFL rules, LB Sione Takitaki (knee, PUP) and S/LB Marte Mapu (calf, IR) are eligible to return in Week 5. It's unclear if either player will be healthy enough to return when their window opens in a few weeks, but Mapu was hopeful that he would be able to do so. Both players could help the Patriots fill the void at linebacker, especially on passing downs.
Lastly, cornerback Marco Wilson is a healthy scratch for the Patriots on Thursday night. Wilson has struggled in 29 snaps so far this season, allowing catches on both targets into his coverage and being called for two defensive pass interference penalties. From this perspective, it was surprising that Wilson continued to play over CB Alex Austin, as Austin put out good tape down the stretch in the 2023 season. Austin will likely take Wilson's reserve snaps now, so we'll see what he can do.
The Patriots are six-point underdogs against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets on Thursday night. However, their winning formula of a strong running game and a stout defense gives them a chance against a Jets offense still gelling in the early stages of the Rodgers era.
The Jets host the Patriots on Thursday Night Football at Metlife Stadium with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
