Patriots determined to get off to a fast start against Jaguars in London

FOXBORO — The Patriots are heading to London for a Week 7 clash against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots have dropped five straight and will look to get back on track against another 1-5 team in the Jaguars, and head coach Jerod Mayo knows a fast start will go a long way toward his team coming out victorious in the end.

“We have to start games faster, and that is definitely a point of emphasis this week,” Mayo said Wednesday.

This road trip poses an interesting dilemma for the Patriots, one of the rare times the team will travel East and lose hours rather than gain them. Sunday’s game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. EST, which is pretty early to play an NFL game.

And getting off to a fast start is not something the Patriots have been very good at this season. New England has been outscored 37-14 in the first quarter over the first six games, and Mayo said Wednesday that needs to change.

The Patriots’ offense has punted away its first possession in every game so far this season, including four three-and-outs. The Patriots’ defense has given up points on their opponents first possession in each of the last three games, including an 11-play touchdown drive to the Texans last weekend.

Week 6 also saw the Patriots get flagged for a penalty on the opening kickoff. Mayo has seen enough of New England’s early-game struggles, and said that changes are coming ahead of Wednesday’s practice in Foxboro.

“The common denominator is a lack of focus,” Mayo said. “We’re in the middle of the season now and to have a penalty on the opening kickoff is unacceptable. It’s a lack of focus.”

Mayo said he’ll be making changes to the starting lineup as a “wake-up call” to his team.

“There will be changes for this game. My message to the coaches and the players, really, is we want our most dependable players out there that we can count on. If there are going to be pre-snap, post-snap penalties, we can’t live that way,” said Mayo. “We have to put the best players out there that give us the best chance to win.”

Some revamped play-calling on offense would help too, especially now that Drake Maye is under center in place of Jacoby Brissett. But the Patriots weren’t giving away any game-plan secrets on Wednesday. 

Players understand that a good and focused week of practice is important when it comes to getting off to a better start come Sunday.

“The key to a fast start is being prepared and ready to go,” captain Deatrich Wise said Wednesday. “Having the energy and knowing what to do, and then doing it.”

“We have to start fast in practice,” recevier DeMario Douglas said in the locker room. “That’s where it starts at, and then translate it to the game. Get out of those three and outs.”

The New England offense didn’t find its groove until late in the first half last week, which was understandable as Maye was making his first career start. He closed the first half with a beautiful deep ball touchdown to Kayshon Boutte, and added two more touchdown passes — including the first touchdown of Douglas’ career — in the second half. The Pats are hoping to build off that in Week 7.

“Excited [we saw] a quick glimpse of what we can do,” said Douglas. “When we put it all together, I feel like we can be scary.”

Slow Starts from the Patriots in 2024

In Week 1, the Patriots picked up a first down on their opening drive against the Bengals in Cincinnati, but then had to punt the ball away three plays later. They went on to score a touchdown on their second drive of their lone win in 2024.

The Patriots scored a touchdown on their second drive of Week 2 at home against the Seahawks as well. But that followed a three-and-out on their first drive, one of six three-and-outs for the team that day. The Seahawks answered that touchdown quickly too, thanks to a 56-yard scoring strike between Geno Smith and DK Metcalf on a bad defensive breakdown by New England.

Week 3 against the Jets is when it really started to fall apart for the New England offense. The Patriots went three-and-out to start the game and punted away their second possession after six plays. The Jets were already up 14-0 when the Pats got a field goal in the second quarter — their only points of the 24-3 loss. 

Week 4 in San Francisco saw the Patriots pick up just 24 yards on their first nine plays before punting away their opening drive. Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble and Brissett threw a pick-six on the offense’s next two times out, followed by an 11-play drive that got into the red zone but yielded no points for New England. The Pats were down 20-3 by halftime against the 49ers.

The Patriots went three-and-out on four of their six first-half possessions in Week 5 against the Dolphins, though they held a 7-3 lead at the break. But their only touchdown drive of that game came after the defense gave them the ball at the Miami 43 after picking off Tyler Huntley. 

Last week, in Maye’s first start, the team went three-and-out on his first drive after a pair of runs gained one yard and Maye’s third-and-9 pass to Ja’Lynn Polk fell incomplete. Maye threw a bad pick to end New England’s second drive, and the Pats were down 14-0 heading into the second quarter.

With a start under his belt, the Patriots are expecting Maye to look a lot more comfortable to begin Sunday’s tilt with the Jaguars. 

A matchup with the Jaguars may solve New England’s early-game woes

The Jaguars are one of those “get right” opponents for teams this season — though the same can be said for the Patriots. But the Jags have had a knack for giving up points early this season.

Jacksonville’s best first quarter of the season was their first, as the Jags forced the Miami Dolphins to turn it over on downs on their first defensive stand of the year. Miami punted away its other two possessions of the first quarter of Week 1.

But it’s gone downhill for the Jaguars since then. The Browns — a team averaging 15.8 points per game — started their Week 2 tilt against the Jags with a touchdown drive. Cleveland tacked on two field-goal drives before halftime and led 13-3 at the break.

The Bills demolished the Jaguars right out of the gate in Week 3, scoring touchdowns on each of their two first-quarter drives in Buffalo. Then they scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter of a 47-10 drubbing of Jacksonville.

The Texans muffed a punt that led to an easy Jags touchdown before what would have been their first possession in Week 4. But Houston answered with a 70-yard touchdown drive, and led 17-13 at the half.

The Jaguars held the Bears scoreless in the first quarter last weekend in London, but then gave up a touchdown drive to open the second quarter. Chicago led 14-3 at halftime.

Overall, the Jaguars have been outscored 34-20 in the first quarter this season. They’ve given up open-drive touchdowns to four of their first six opponents this season.

The opportunity to start fast will be there for the Patriots this weekend. But they have to be ready to take advantage, which is something Mayo and the coaching staff is really hammering home this week before the team heads overseas.

Get ready for Sunday’s Patriots-Jaguars game in London with WBZ-TV — your flagship station of the New England Patriots. It starts Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. with Patriots 1st Down on TV38 and streaming on CBSBoston.com. Coverage kicks off Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay at 8 a.m. (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), and switch to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!