Change is coming to the Patriots’ starting offensive line
The New England Patriots released starting left guard Michael Jordan on Tuesday, setting the stage for a change to the offensive line.
After the New England Patriots had one of their worst offensive line games of the season in Sunday’s 34-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins, head coach Jerod Mayo said there would be changes to the starting lineup. The team’s latest roster move guarantees that will be the case.
On Tuesday evening, the Patriots announced they have waived guard Michael Jordan. Jordan, who signed with the team on a one-year contract this past offseason, stepped in as the top left guard late in training camp due to injuries and ended up starting 11 of 12 games for the Patriots to this point.
While the Patriots were struggling to figure out their offensive line personnel early on, Jordan was a surprise steadying presence. For the first half of the season it looked like Jordan was going to give the team a bridge to projected starters getting healthy. However, Jordan’s play fell off in recent week with 12 pressures allowed in the last four weeks including four last week against Miami.
There are multiple ways the Patriots could replace Jordan at left guard. The most obvious would be activating Cole Strange, and returning him to his natural position. Strange returned to practice for the first time last week after starting the year on PUP as he recovered from a severe knee injury he suffered late last season.
The Patriots could also turn to one of their depth guards, Sidy Sow or rookie Layden Robinson. Sow started 13 games for the Patriots last year, mainly playing left guard. However, the new coaching staff hasn’t used him as much. Robinson, a fourth-round pick, worked this summer and started the season as a right guard before being benched in Week 9, but has been working at left guard in practice since.
To fill Jordan’s roster spot the Patriots claimed guard Lester Cotton off waivers from the Dolphins. Cotton, 28, entered the NFL as a UDFA out of Alabama in 2019. The 6-foot-4, 330 pound guard spent his first three-plus NFL seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders before joining Miami.
Cotton has played in 43 career NFL games with nine starts, including appearing in 11 games as a reserve this year. He’s allowed four pressures and a sack in 38 pass blocking snaps, all at left guard.
Given his experience in the NFL cotton could be another option to replace Jordan at left guard for the Patriots at some point later this season. However getting him ready to play this week against the Indianapolis Colts could be tough, especially given the schedule of the Thanksgiving week (the team practiced Tuesday, which is usually an off day, then will be off on Thursday).
With Jordan’s release, the Patriots have just four offensive linemen currently on the active roster who were with the team in training camp – guards Robinson, Sow, and Mike Onwenu, and tackle Vederian Lowe. A fifth, rookie tackle Caedan Wallace, has been on IR since Week 5 but Mayo shared Tuesday morning that he is “close” to returning.
