FOXBOROUGH - It wasn't perfect — far from it — but Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt expressed a level of satisfaction with his group's performance in Cincinnati when we met with him Thursday morning.
"I liked the way we played," Van Pelt said. "I liked our play style. I thought we were physical, especially up front, and I thought our backs ran with a lot of physicality as well. You know, it was a good start."
It's a good start, indeed, but not one without issues. As I wrote Tuesday, Van Pelt couldn't utilize some of the plays on his call sheet because the Pats' much-talked-about and suddenly over-praised offensive line struggled in pass protection, especially at left tackle, and had to be bailed out with some frequency by running back Rhamondre Stevenson and quarterback Jacoby Brissett. That's not to say the line's performance was a dud. Just a reminder there's a long way to go before they can be trusted.
"I thought about it after the game," said Van Pelt. "We're still not there on all the techniques we're using and teaching, but you see them come out in the play style and the way we're doing things up front.
"Realistically, we've only been in pads through training camp, whatever how many padded practices that is. So, I see us continuing to grow. The more games we get under our belt, the more live-action, full pads, and full contact; these techniques will get cleaned up. And I think we'll get better as the year goes on."
Offensive line coach Scott Peters was also available this morning. When I asked him about the left tackle spot in particular, he recalled the mantra he, Van Pelt, and Jerod Mayo have leaned on since the spring.
"We're still evaluating as we go," said Peters. "We're looking at putting the best five guys out there. That's kind of the reality of the situation."
Peters wouldn't criticize Chuks Okorafor despite the veteran clearly being benched after a dozen snaps Sunday. He told us that Okorafor is predominantly a right tackle who plays on the left side because the team asked him to play there "after some injuries."
That doesn't jibe with what Eliot Wolf had preached since the spring — remember, he was bullish Okorafor could be the left tackle (and he was to start training camp) — but Vederian Lowe moved into the starting role fairly early in training camp before suffering an oblique injury on August 21st. That necessitated Okorafor's move back into the starting lineup Sunday, with Lowe then bailing the Pats out in the 16-10 win, even if he was not close to 100%. Peters was complementary of Lowe's effort, though the player himself wasn't as forgiving.
"It was just more technique-based," he told me when critiquing his performance. "Things that I had worked on, you know, throughout camp and everything, things I got better at, and then going back in there, you start reverting to old habits. I was doing things, and I'm like, you ain't done that since the beginning of OTAs, like, 'Come on, man,'"
Lowe promises to improve this week, believing he'll settle back into better form with more reps. That will be critical because this Seattle defense will attack and stress communication from the first snap to the last.
"For sure, there's protection issues," Van Pelt said when discussing the Seahawks. "They do a good job. Obviously, the scheme is strong. There'll be some calls we'll have to make from a protection standpoint. But again, it's good. It's about the one-on-one matchups. They try to create one-on-one matchups with your line and have some good players. So it'd be a good challenge for us this week in pass protection."
"There's a number of reasons why quarterbacks get pressured," added Peters, who saw his line put Brissett in harm's way on over 50% of his dropbacks Sunday. "It's not always because someone got beat. Sometimes it is. Sometimes, it's an issue from a unit perspective; sometimes, it's individual. But that does happen, and there are some issues we can certainly clean up, and that's something we're emphasizing every day."
It appears the Pats will be without Sidy Sow for a second straight week. He's been a non-participant in practice this week, so get ready for another practice squad elevation for guard Michael Jordan. But the right side has remained status quo to this point, as it should, meaning the Pats have identified four of their "best five." Left tackle remains the lone question mark, and it might have to be Lowe or bust in the short term unless rookie Caedan Wallace takes an in-season leap and successfully makes the conversion that Okorafor has struggled with and one that Wallace has scuffled doing as well.
In week one, the Seahawks had a pair of sacks, nine quarterback hits, and 18 hurries of Denver's Bo Nix (on 44 dropbacks). That would seem to indicate the Pats would be best keeping the ball on the ground, as they did against the Bengals, but Van Pelt insists they'll operate on a week-to-week basis.
"I always talk about putting our players in the best place to make them successful - the best situations to make them successful - and using their skill sets," he said. "I've told the guys in the room we might run it 40 times this week and throw it 40 times the next week based on the defense.
"So I'm very confident in our group. I think our skill group is a talented group. You don't have any huge names outside at receiver, but we got a bunch of guys that make good football plays, so I feel real confident in those guys."
LEARNING TO BE A PRO
Kayshon Boutte had a rough rookie season, from his inability to get his feet in bounds twice in a season-opening loss to the Eagles to a social media post in which he complained about playing time a month later and gambling revelations that lingered over the entirety of his off-season.
But Boutte had a sound summer, making the 53-man roster and dressing Sunday in Cincinnati (although he didn't get a snap).
Boutte has been gently applauded by the coaching staff for his work, which continued this past week, with the second-year pro getting named one of the practice players of the week for his work on the scout team as Ja'Marr Chase. In fact, wide receiver coach Tyler Hughes said he couldn't get over how hard Boutte ran, not just his routes, but hustling to get back to the huddle all so he could do it all over again.
I asked Boutte about his growth from year one to year two. He said he feels like a different player.
"It's been a full year (in the pro game)," he said. "You can grow a lot in a year. I can say, obviously, I'm better now (then as a rookie)."
Boutte remains behind Tyquan Thornton as the Pats' top option as the 'X' receiver, and depending on Javon Baker's rate of growth, he may have to fight him off as well. However, the level of maturity he's displayed under this new coaching staff is noteworthy. With Thornton's injury history, it might not be long before he gets an opportunity in-game. Perhaps this time around, Boutte can take advantage of it.