Marc Bertrand: The Jets urgency is making me jealous of them

On Wednesday's edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Marc "Beetle" Bertrand explained why the Jets urgency is making him jealous as a Patriots fan right now.

Marc Bertrand: 

The level of urgency that the New York Jets are operating with right now, honestly makes me jealous of them. And that's sick. You know how much I hate the Jets. You’ve listened to me for 15 years on this station, I can't stand the Jets. Don't like them one bit. Can't stand them, can't stand anything about them.

Scott Zolak: 

You're like Belichick. 

Marc Bertrand: 

Their level of urgency after many years of suck over the last, we'll call it calendar plus year, Is impressive. I mean, it may not work. It may blow up in their face. It may be a losing bet. Aaron Rodgers is no sure thing. Guy is headcase. But, they're going for it man. Even with losing the other night, even with that horrific, nasty, ugly game that we all watched. I didn't get a chance to weigh in on that with you guys yesterday, but I imagine you had something to say about the flags in that one. The next day, a week after firing their head coach, they're on the line and they've got Davante Adams in New York ready to go to reunite him with his quarterback. Holy crap.  

Scott Zolak: 

Did you see how quickly he got there?  

Tim McKone: 

He was there the night before. 

Marc Bertrand: 

All in the same week, they're firing their coach and they're going after Davante Adams. Yes, as Bill Belichick put it, aim, fire, shoot, whatever he wants to say about Woody Johnson. Well, Woody Johnson's freaking going for it. 

On Sunday, Drake Maye made his long-anticipated first NFL start. It wasn't all perfect as the Patriots lost 41-21, but the rookie quarterback certainly showed plenty of positive signs the team can build around moving forward.

In fact, after the game head coach Jerod Mayo spoke about needing to do more to put the third overall pick in a position to succeed. "I thought he showed a lot of poise...It's definitely encouraging," Mayo said after the game. "From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game, and I feel like I let him down. I'm sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. We've just got to be better."

Most Patriots fans seem to be on the same page as Mayo. This week's Mailbag questions were mostly about the players around Maye - especially on the offensive line.

We'll get to the line. But let's start this mailbag off with a look at Maye himself...

I'd give Drake Maye a B for his performance on Sunday, all things considered - first NFL start, with a center he just met a few days prior, against a very good defense. The biggest thing for me was Maye not looking overwhelmed, which was the case for most of the game after some apparent jitters in the first quarter (Maye himself talked about needing to settle down, which Jacoby Brissett helped him do).

Overall, Maye showed plenty for the team to build around based on his arm talent, pocket presence, and running ability. There are things he'll need to fix, and as he gets more experience he'll need to prove he's not an error-repeater. Specifically, his accuracy to the intermediate part of the field and of course limiting turnovers stand out. He's didn't go above and beyond, but as far as first NFL starts go it would have been unfair to realistically expect more from him.

Yeah, let's not fit the kid for a red and/or gold jacket just yet. But, he should be the starter for the rest of this season - when his development will be crucial. Both points here are key - Maye's chemistry with his receivers and how well he works with Alex Van Pelt. I'd say the second one probably holds a little more weight for me, just because the Patriots' wide receiver group will likely see upgrades this offseason one way or the other. The future of Van Pelt and the Patriots' offensive coordinator job isn't as clear.

To me, some of Mike Onwenu's struggles can be chalked up to him not having a settled position. After planning in the offseason to play tackle he was moved back to guard in camp, then back out to tackle for the start of the regular season, then back to guard. He hasn't had a chance to really get comfortable at either spot. I'd give it a few more weeks before I really hit the panic button, but still think that if worst comes to worst and he can't figure it out this year, giving him a full offseason and training camp at one position next year could get him on the right track.

They are free agents for a reason. Mike Giardi reported earlier this month that Donovan Smith and Charles Leno "aren't interested" in signing. Meanwhile, with David Bakhtiari's age (33) and recent history of knee injuries he may be unable to play physically. The fourth player who has been talked about is D.J. Humphries, who is nine months removed from ACL surgery and may not be ready to get on a field yet (for reference, Kendrick Bourne just returned after an 11-month rehab).

The Patriots will probably need to sign another tackle this week after Vederian Lowe hurt his ankle on Sunday. Given what's mentioned above though, don't be surprised if it's another practice squad signing.

It'd be surprising to see any team - even struggling teams - move on from quality offensive linemen - especially tackles - right now. There's just such a shortage in the league that even if a team isn't contending, having that player moving forwards still has value.

Even if a lineman does get moved, the asking price is going to be significant. For a Patriots team that is early on in a rebuild, it's probably not going to be worth parting ways with the draft capital it would take to get a deal done with a player who will most likely be on the older side and/or on an expiring contract.

First off, you can ignore the majority of mock drafts this time of year. Take this from the guy who loves doing mock drafts - I don't seriously consider them until the end of the regular season at the earliest.

As for the Patriots, yes they should take a tackle but that's not a guarantee they will. If they go elsewhere though I feel like it would probably be a wide receiver rather than a cornerback (Travis Hunter projects primarily as a cornerback in the NFL), given how aggressively they've gone after available veteran wide receivers in the last year, and what Christian Gonzalez has shown them at corner.

For the most part, no to the first question. I get some hesitance when it comes to Will Campbell because of his arm length, but the reality is that measurement is what it is and it makes more sense to assume he can play tackle until proven otherwise (he'll get measured at the NFL Combine). For now, evaluating the play on the field is as much as can realistically be done. Beyond that I think some of the uncertainty comes from both prospects being on the younger side - which is the case for most of the top players in this year's draft.

Either way, the Patriots need to end up with a potential franchise left tackle. Whether that's Campbell, Texas' Kelvin Banks (whose size concerns seem wildly overblown - just look at him), or even potentially Minnesota's Aireontae Ersery, it makes more sense to maneuver around the board and land that player given how difficult it is to find and acquire talented tackle compared to positions like wide receiver or cornerback.

Keep in mind it's still early, with plenty of football left to be played - but right now I'm leaning Kelvin Banks. For one, his mobility and fluidity at the position stand out. He also has two big advantages on Campbell right now - better play against high-level opponents, and a lack of penalties (Campbell has already matched his season total from last year with five, including multiple false starts.

That being said, Banks faces a big test - maybe his biggest test of the regular season - this Saturday. His Longhorns are facing Georgia, which once again has an outstanding defensive front. That group is led by edge rusher Mykel Williams, who is a projected first-round pick. This game will be a big factor in both players' draft evaluations.

Credit is definitely do to the Texans' receivers - especially Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell - for their ability to get open on Sunday. No doubt about that. At the same time, the Patriots now have examples on tape of how teams can attack them in man. Expect the Jaguars to hit them with similar looks this week, and how they respond will basically give us the answer to this question.

Tackling. Right now the Patriots are missing too many tackles, many of which seem due to poor technique or fundamentals. Since Week 2 the Patriots are averaging 8.8 missed tackles per game, up almost two full tackles from their pace last year.

That's what I would focus on, and based on Jerod Mayo's postgame press conference on Sunday he may be thinking the same thing. "Defensively I would say just the fundamentals of just tackling, our run fits have to improve," he said after his team missed seven more tackles against Houston. "They have to improve. I told all those guys, I said, 'you should feel like crap today. You should feel like crap.' You take away those two long runs, we had two runs over 50 yards. That's just not winning football."