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Patrots Notebook: O-Line was more than work in progress

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Oct 19, 2020

AP photo Patriots quarterback Cam Newton loses the football while pressured by Denver's Malik Reed (59) despite the protection efforts of Patriots lineman Hjalte Froholdt during Sunday's 18-12 Broncos win at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Next man up after man after man goes down.

That was the case with the New England Patriots offensive line going into and during Sunday’s 18-12 loss at the hands of the Denver Broncos Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots have gone through this before but likely not to the extent it did Sunday, especially after losing Jermaine Eluemunor to an injury in the first half.

Patriots offensive lineman Joe Thuney, who has been playing center thanks to all the injuries, etc., said the line simply needs to overcome those problems.

“You know, it’s just football and kind of the next man up mentality,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of trust in the guys, everyone in that room – the coaches, players. It always comes down to execution, you’ve got to execute on Sundays.

“Regardless of positions, people, our whole room has that mentality of next man up, and just got to execute better.”

“Like I said, it’s football, it’s a physical game and people get injured or things happen with illnesses and stuff,” Thuney said. “You’ve got to keep rolling with the punches and try to build that chemistry regardless of the time together.

“You’ve got to keep communicating, keep working, keep fighting together. But we’ll stick together and we’ll try to learn from this one and keep improving.”

Thuney is now at center and he normally plays guard, and sometimes fills in at tackle. No one was in their usual spot on Sunday, not after Shaq Mason was placed on the COVID list along with James Ferentz. Regular center David Andrews was already on IR. Thuney has done fine at his new spot, save a bad snap over quarterback Cam Newton’s head on Sunday.

“It really comes down to doing your job at the position you’re in,” Thuney said. “That’s just the kind of business we’re in. We’ve all just got to execute better on the offensive line and it starts with me.”

FANGIO: BRONOS STAYED COURSE

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio said that he was happy how his team handled all the COVID=related frustrations that resulted in Sunday’s game getting delayed by a week and the team losing its bye. And they were able to come away with a win.

“It was stressed this past two weeks, obviously with the game having three different scheduled dates, the guys losing their bye week, everything that goes with that,” Fangio said. “I think (the players) were like me in a way that, yeah, you’re mad you’re disappointed, you’re frustrated, you wonder why.

“Five minutes later you take a deep breath and you move on. I ‘ve tried to get the guys to think that way. I think they have.”

HOYER LEADS INACTIVES

For the second time this season – but the first when Cam Newton was healthy – , second year quarterback Jarrett Stidham was active as the No. 2 quarterback for the Patriots on Sunday.

That meant that for the first time this season, veteran Brian Hoyer, who started the loss at Kansas City but was eventually replaced by Stidham, was inactive.

Other Patriots inactives included defensive back Myles Bryant, running back J.J. Taylor, tight end Dalton Keane, and defensive lineman Carl Davis. All were healthy scratches.

Out for the Broncos were quarterback Jeff Driskel, wideout K.J. Hamler, running back Melvin Gordon and tight and Noah Fant, guard Netane Muti, defensive tackle McTelvin Agi and outside linebacker Jeremiah Attachou.

TIDS AND BITS

Fangio came up with a blitz on the Patriots’ final drive that he hadn’t used before, and it pressured Newton effectively. “Well, I just think at times during the season you have to come up with something new on a week-to-week basis,” he said. “That’s one I’ve been looking at. Just decided this was the time to use it.”

Patriots running back James White had eight catches for 65 yards. It was his 12th game since 2015 with eight or more catches…

Newton had 76 yards rushing, 38 on one run in the fourth quarter. It was the most rushing yards for a QB under Bill Belichick, and he also became the second QB in NFL history to reach 5,000 career rushing yards…

Next up for New England: San Francisco at Gillette Stadium next Sunday at 4:25 p.m.

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