The Patriots are readying for a rookie quarterback battle with the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday, with some notable developments on their final injury report this week.
New England has ruled out starting S Kyle Dugger (ankle) and LB Christian Elliss (abdomen) for their Week 10 matchup. The Patriots have also listed seven players as questionable: CB Alex Austin (ankle), DT Daniel Ekuale (abdomen), G Michael Jordan (ankle), T Vederian Lowe (shoulder), S Marte Mapu (neck), G Layden Robinson (ankle), and DT Jaquelin Roy (neck).
Starting on defense, head coach Jerod Mayo gave an update on Dugger's status on Friday. Although the safety won't play for the third consecutive game, Coach Mayo indicated that the team is expecting to get their defensive captain back this season. Dugger's injury first occured in the Patriots loss to the 49ers in Week 4. Initially, Dugger tried to play through the injury but he hasn't been able to in recent weeks.
"He'll be back this year, for sure," Mayo said on Friday morning. "He's still dealing with the ankle and as you know, all injuries don't heal the same way. He's still dealing with those things and we'll see how it goes."
The Patriots defense has missed Dugger's physicality, particularly in the run game. Although his replacements have done some good things, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington told reporters that the Pats defensive backs need to do a better job of providing a more sturdy run force when offenses run to the outside. New England has allowed nine explosive runs over 10 yards, tied for third-most in the NFL, and 5.2 yards per rush on runs outside the tackles.
"We have to do a good job with our perimeter run force and just as cutback players. Around the league, it's not just running the ball downhill. A lot of the runs are going to the numbers. So we've got to do a good job of setting the edge of the defense," Covington said. "When we say set the edge, we might think about the defensive linemen and the linebackers. But we also talk about safeties and corners forcing it back to the cutback players, too."
Without their two starting safeties, who are both excellent run defenders, the Patriots have been inconsistent in forcing runs back inside and filling the alley. Last week, Titans RB Tony Pollard's 32-yard run on a crack toss scheme was a good example of that. By cracking down on the play-side defensive end, the Titans put the Pats defensive backs at the point of attack, and Pollard did the rest. This week, Bears RB D'Andre Swift is capable of doing the same things.
The Patriots will likely lean on hybrid safety Marte Mapu, undrafted rookie Dell Pettus, and veteran FS Jaylinn Hawkins again on Sunday. Like we mentioned earlier, all three have had good moments, and Pettus has emerged as a sure open-field tackler. But they'll need to be stouter at the point of attack and more assignment sound on early downs vs. the Bears.
Elsewhere on the defense, starting LB Christian Elliss (abdomen) will miss Sunday's game. The Pats will need to call upon veterans Raekwon McMillan and Sione Takitaki to take his place. McMillan was once ahead of Elliss on the depth chart, but his streaky play opened the door for Elliss, a special teams ace with good athleticism to play in space, to earn a larger role. McMillan shot a gap for a TFL, logging three tackles in 13 defensive snaps in Week 9.
Free-agent addition Sione Takitaki is another option, as Takitaki continues to search for a role in the defense. After missing most of training camp due to a knee procedure in the offseason, coaches pointed to Takitaki learning a new defensive system as the reason for his limited playing time since being activated. For new players who weren't available or with the team during camp, it's like jumping on a moving train. Hopefully, Takitaki can carve out a larger role.
The other major storyline with the Patriots this week is the team potentially reshuffling the deck on the offensive line again. During the media-access portion of practice on Wednesday and Thursday, standout OL Mike Onwenu was spotted at left guard. Onwenu spoke about potentially moving to the left side, which, in our words, is obviously not ideal. One potential starting line for the Patriots vs. the Bears is LT Vederian Lowe, LG Mike Onwenu, C Ben Brown, RG Layden Robinson, and RT Trey Jacobs, meaning vet Michael Jordan would go to the bench.
From this perspective, removing Jordan from the starting five is justifiable based on his film. Jordan has struggled to move bodies in the run game, while he allowed a team-high five pressures in the loss to the Titans last week. There aren't any arguments here about benching Jordan, but the tough decision is how to reconfigure the line: insert Robinson at RG and flip Onwenu or put Sidy Sow at LG with Onwenu at RG.
The Patriots coaching staff clearly likes Robinson. On Friday, O-Line coach Scott Peters called Robinson a, "strong, powerful kid. He's a good player. Being a rookie, you're coming into the NFL with a lot of adjustments on a weekly basis and he's done a good job."
Robinson started all 33 career games in college at right guard and has repped on the right side almost exclusively with the Patriots. Since it's challenging for a rookie to move around, Onwenu would have to flip sides. Despite the rookie getting benched last week, it sounds like the coaching staff feels more comfortable with Robinson than Sow, so here we are.
Although there are hints at the Patriots rolling with a new starting five, Onwenu was spotted back at right guard during Friday's look-in at pratice. The Pats were briefly practicing with the five linemen that finished last Sunday's game: LT Lowe, LG Jordan, C Brown, RG Onwenu, and RT Jacobs. They could try out the LG Onwenu/RG Robinson combination, with Jordan as a contingency plan if the switch fails.
Ultimately, it's a lot of moving parts along the offensive line. However, in defense of the coaching staff, Jordan's play has been inconsistent. Plus, a 2-7 football team should play their younger guys with an eye toward the future. If the coaches think Robinson can be a part of their future, it makes sense for them to develop the fourth-rounder and live with the rookie growing pains that might come. Still, it's interesting that Sow, who was the summertime favorite to play left guard, isn't their first option, allowing Onwenu to stay at his natural spot on the right side of the line.
Most are excited about this week's rookie quarterback matchup between first-overall pick Caleb Williams and third-overall draft choice Drake Maye. Although it'll be interesting to compare them, the bottom line is that the roster around the quarterback is a bigger story than the quarterback themselves, especially in Maye's case. The two rookies have flashed franchise quarterback potential, but their supporting casts and coaching have come into question. That said, Chicago (4-4) is a six-point home favorite over New England on Sunday.
The Patriots will travel to Chicago on Saturday afternoon ahead of Sunday's 1 pm. ET kickoff at Soldier Field.
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
