New England Patriots
“I told them I had full faith in them.”
FOXBOROUGH — It might seem foolish in hindsight to label a primetime matchup against a 2-10 Giants squad as a potential “trap game” for the Patriots.
But given New York’s potent pass rush — and the state of New England’s banged-up offensive line — the writing was on the wall that Drake Maye was bracing for a painful night at Gillette Stadium.
New England’s offense took to the field on Monday without its starting left tackle in Will Campbell (knee, injured reserve) and starting left tackle Jared Wilson (ankle).
Even if both rookies are expected to return later this year, Patriots fans who saw several New England QBs get swarmed behind a porous O-line in recent years were seemingly justified in expecting the worst over the next few weeks.
That same sentiment wasn’t shared by Drake Maye as Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown stepped in on the left side of New England’s offensive line.
“I told them I had full faith in them,” Maye said of his message to Lowe and Brown. “We had a lot of reps last year dropping back and trusting those guys. I think they’re great players, and they’ve stepped up, like I said, in pregame.
“I think they stepped up all year anybody thrown in the fire. Proud of them. Proud of them for working hard and learning this offense and staying on the same page and being on the same page all night and doing a great job tonight.”
That faith was rewarded on Monday night.
For all of the sour sentiment drawn up from last year’s lackluster results, New England’s backups held the line against the Giants — keeping Maye off the turf for most of the night en route to a 33-15 win.
As dynamic as New York’s pass-rushing corps of Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, and Abdul Carter have been this season, that trio ended the night with just one sack, seven tackles, and two QB hits against the Patriots.
“Everyone prepares as a starter,” Marcus Jones said postgame. “Vrabes talks about it 24/7 and we have a lot of guys in the building who respect that. … [Whoever is] out there, we have a whole bunch of confidence in them.
“That’s just what it is. It’s a brotherhood. … Everyone that we have out there, we’re thinking that they can get the job done, for sure.”
Lowe — who primarily started at left tackle last season — had a daunting matchup in his first game back as a starter, especially tasked with keeping Burns (13.5 sacks) away from Maye.
But Lowe, who admitted in an interview with MassLive last week that he fought through a torn labrum last season that hindered his play, filled in admirably for Campbell on Monday night.
As noted by Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar, Pro Football Focus’s initial ratings had Maye pressured on just nine of his 36 total drop-backs against a flawed Giants defense — albeit one that is at its best getting after the quarterback.
It was a promising night for New England’s depth in general.
While a reworked offensive line kept Maye upright, a Patriots defensive line playing without both Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga wasn’t completely splintered in the trenches. The Giants finished the game with just 239 total yards of offense in the loss.
For the Patriots, a win like Monday stands as a strong reflection on the depth that has been built up on a roster once deemed as razor-thin across several critical areas.
And for a player looking to move past 2024 like Lowe, a strong individual performance — coupled with Maye’s words of encouragement — were a welcome sight.
“Drake has never once wavered confidence in anybody on the [offensive] line,” Lowe said postgame to the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan. “No matter who’s in there, he has full confidence in everybody. And that gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves. We can go out there and perform knowing that [Maye] has our back. There’s nothing better than that.”
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