Before Jerod Mayo hired him, Drew Wilkins used to wonder from afar. How the Patriots’ defense, every single year, almost regardless of its talent level or scheme, maintained. Atypically fierce, always fundamental, usually in the top 10.
How could that be? “This is the gold standard,” Wilkins declared Monday, “as far as defensive systems go.” Wilkins knows defense. He shaped several, snarling Ravens defenses as an assistant from 2014-21, then coached Giants outside linebackers the last two years.
But in studying the Patriots, there was something Wilkins, like many defensive coaches, couldn’t quite figure out. “Everybody you talk to around the league, (they) want to know, what the secret sauce is here,” Wilkins said this week. “You’re looking around the league, these guys just play harder and more physical and tackle more than anybody you see when you watch tape from an outside point of view.
” Now an insider, as Mayo’s new outside linebackers coach, Wilkins knows. “Then you get here, and there is no secret sauce. The secret sauce is they work harder than everybody,” Wilkins said.
“They train harder. This building, and the people in this building, just care so much and love football so much. That’s how they attack it, and that shows up.
The proof’s in the pudding defensively here over the years.” But will that continue? Mayo’s ascent to head coach has marked a new era, where old Patriot pillars are no longer supporting the program. Some of them – Bill Belichick’s famous “Do your job” slogan” – Mayo knocked down himself.
And after two seasons rife with dysfunction, including last year’s miserable 4-13 campaign, it was time for change. But defensively, Mayo is keeping Belichick’s system and principles, which once again are being leaned on to carry the franchise. The 2024 Patriots will be a defensive team, something Mayo has already admitted a handful of times.
Fulfilling that promise may come down to coaching as much as talent, considering the two massive hits the defense has taken since camp started. Just ask Wilkins. The Patriots traded Matthew Judon, their most productive pass-rusher and the best player in Wilkins’ position room, this week for a draft pick.
The Pats cannot replace Judon with a single player. Even if burly, bruising Keion White makes an expected Year 2 leap, he can only man one edge of Mayo’s defense. Who starts across from him? Anfernee Jennings? Deatrich Wise? Joshua Uche? Do those names inspire confidence on all three downs? To fill Judon’s spot, the Patriots must quickly land on the right rotation and maximize it with clever schemes and reliable fundamentals; the type of coaching outsiders have come to expect in New England.
Then again, based on how they seemingly intend to replace Christian Barmore – their second-best pass rusher –- the Pats might feel comfortable with a 1-for-1 solution. “I would say we’re going to do what we do,” defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said of replacing Barmore this week. “And we’re going to put the players in the best position with the players that we have, and then it depends on who we’re playing for that week.
” Thus far in training camp, the Patriots have put longtime pass-rushing specialist Daniel Ekuale in Barmore’s place, and handed him a starter’s workload. While he starred in Tuesday’s joint practice against the Eagles, Ekuale’s preseason performance Thursday was more reflective of the player he’s been; a veteran who’s never played more than 46% of his teams snaps in a season and played for three different teams. Even if Ekuale enjoys a mid-career breakout, and Barmore does not return, the Patriots are still down to a single blue-chip talent on defense.
And that talent, Christian Gonzalez, has looked more sky blue than hard navy this summer. Who’s to say how Gonzalez ultimately performs when the regular season rolls around, especially the way he shined last September after a lukewarm training camp. But few defenses ever rise to the places the Patriots intend to reach this season (a top-5 rankings) with a single Pro Bowl-caliber player.
And none do so with zero such players. At least the coaching staff can take solace in this: there is no talent deficit at any one position. The Patriots’ defensive depth chart is solid across the board.
Judon or no Judon, there is plenty of clay to mold an above-average defense. The offense’s depth chart? More holes than the grounds of a country club. Alex Van Pelt has undertaken the defining job of his career so far, both as a play-calling offensive coordinator and lead developer for a top-3 pick in Drake Maye.
Lucky for Van Pelt, time is on his side; meaning he can slow-play his rookie quarterback’s path to playing time if he deems Maye unready or the situation around him unfit. There is no rush. Offensive line coach Scott Peters doesn’t have the same luxury.
Peters’ job is to lay the foundation for Van Pelt’s run-based offense by coaching an offensive line that can create running lanes and pass-protect at a passable level. Right now, it’s failing. “I would say there’s a dramatic drop-off, not really physically, but just knowing what to do, between the first (offensive) line and the second and third guys,” Mayo said this week.
“They have to get better as a whole, as a unit. They just have to get better.” Three weeks away from the season opener, the Patriots don’t have a left tackle.
Only David Andrews has proven he can play center. Early on, Peters’ “strike system,” a set of techniques that incorporates lessons from his jiu-jitsu training and seven NFL seasons as a player, drew rave reviews. “It’s detailed and it helps out a lot.
It’s something that I wish I knew earlier because it fixes a lot of things. You have a lot more time to figure things out,” rookie offensive tackle Caedan Wallace said earlier this summer. “It works with speed, it works with power.
It works with guys that are dynamic, inside moves. There’s an answer for everything.” “When you do it properly, it works,” left guard Sidy Sow added.
“It’s proven science.” The trouble is, it has to work. Now.
Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots Nick Leverett, Michael Jordan, Sidy Sow and Calvin Anderson on the field during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Not so the Patriots can win big in 2024, but so their other offensive players – quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, etc. – have a chance to breathe, perform and grow.
Maye, of course, is at the top of that list, especially after taking three would-be sacks in a two-minute drill at last Tuesday’s joint practice and one on his final game snap Thursday. As the Patriots’ defensive staff works to replace Judon and Barmore, all outside eyes will remain on Van Pelt, Peters and the offensive coaches. How are they handling Maye? Is the offensive line fixed yet? Where have the Patriots made progress? Because the time for training camp experimentation and cross-training and patience is just about over.
It’s time to begin preparing for the regular season. Time to name starters, identify the core schemes and go. Within days, the Patriots will begin this process with a regular-season-style week of preparation ahead of their preseason finale at Washington.
Quality preparation starts with good coaching. If/when the Patriots stumble this season, the losses should be easy enough to explain: rebuilding team, bad talent, new coaching staff. But if they surprise, after a messy offensive summer and losing two defensive cornerstones, that should be a direct credit to Mayo and Co.
, and reason to raise the same questions Wilkins asked all those years ago..
