Bedard: On Isaiah Wynn's return, Shaq Mason's improvement and what to expect from Patriots' offense

Dante Scarnecchia all but confirmed today that Isaiah Wynn will be back at his left tackle spot against the Cowboys.

That is great and welcomed news, and we'll get into the hows and whys in a second. But nobody should expect him to be some sort of savior for this struggling offense. Especially when it comes to the running game.

Why? Well, for those in the "We can't run the ball because we don't have Wynn or James Develin" camp, just remember how it went in the season opener against the Steelers, when the Patriots had both rested and healthy:

Sony Michel: 15 carries, 14 yards.
Patriots: 29 carries, 99 yards (3.4 average).

That would be right in line with New England's season rushing average of 3.3 yards per carry.

But that opener does have some silver lining when it comes to Wynn's return. And that is:

Tom Brady: 24 of 36 (66.7 percent), 341 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 124.9 rating, 9.47 yards/attempt.

Brady hasn't posted a higher rating or yards per attempt since then. In fact, Brady hasn't posted a passer rating of 100 or higher since Week 5 against the Redskins. His yards per attempt haven't exceeded 8.6 since Week 2.

(We will point out that the Steelers were a train wreck in the secondary back then.)

This is where, if the Patriots have Mohamed Sanu (questionable with a high ankle sprain), they can make some gains with Wynn back in the lineup.

"He's a guy who's completely healthy, stronger than he's been," said Dante Scarnecchia. "We thought he was a good player when we went into the season and we think even that much more of him now. We have a guy who we think is completely healthy. So, none of us can predict the future but we all want the best for this kid because we think he's a really good guy.

"I think it will help. ... We're hoping for the best, we really are. We think it will make us a better football team, but we'll see. ... He's practiced, and he's practiced well."

A lot of people like to dump on Marshall Newhouse, and he certainly has had his share of struggles at times, but he has not been a disaster at left tackle. In fact, Brady's protection has been much better than average.

According to ProFootballFocus.com's Pass Block Efficiency stat, the Patriots rank No. 7 in the league with an 86.7 success rate. Baltimore leads at 90.8.

As far as hits — conventional wisdom is Brady has taken a beating — Brady has taken 26 according to PFF. That is the eighth-best in the league to this point.

At the same point last season, the Patriots ranked 17th with 29 hits allowed on Brady.

But Wynn should make a difference. He may have just played six quarters of football so far in his career, but it was very impressive. Wynn allowed just a half a hit on Brady in those games. He plays with tremendous balance and strength. Newhouse did not. And Wynn is a very smart player and it's obvious he processes quickly. Newhouse did not.

Wynn is also much quicker and can get down the field to help the screen game, although I would expect that to take a bit with his timing. Game speed takes time to get used to, and the Cowboys are a very fast defense.

In the running game, Wynn should be able to get to the second level a little bit better than Newhouse, but Wynn is far from a road grader. He's more of a pass-pro player first, but he's not a liability in the run game. That he's smaller and squatter gives him a leverage edge against a lot of players.

But the running game should be boosted by the combination of Wynn and the new-and-improved Shaq Mason. He was outstanding against a very good Eagles front on Sunday. It was the first time he even appeared to reach his previous All-Pro-caliber self.

You put together Wynn, Mason's improvement and, hopefully, more of Matt LaCosse at tight end, and see some potential for improvement this week and going forward. But, as far as the running game goes, it will still come down to the absence of David Andrews — Ted Karras just can't replicate Andrews' athletic ability to spring big plays on the second level — Marcus Cannon's uneven play, and the Patriots lacking that Gronk-like figure to keep the defenses away from the tackle box.

The running game should improve, but I wouldn't expect anything dramatic there.

I do think the passing game will be a bit more efficient, and Brady obviously has more trust in Wynn than Newhouse. That's important in this offense because they prefer to have Brady under center and running play-action, which requires more time and for the quarterback to turn his back on the defense. It's a trust play. While the Patriots haven't been a disaster at it (Brady ranks 14th in the league in passer rating on play-action), they have dipped from 90.4 last year, to 88.6 this season.

So when Sunday rolls around — and Sanu's availability would be rather large — expect some improvement in the passing game with Wynn guarding Brady's backside, and slight improvement with the run.

But if you're hoping for some dramatic turnaround since Wynn is back, you might have to keep waiting.