Patriots guard Cole Strange emphasizes importance of offensive line continuity

Only once this year, the Patriots have been able to start the same five players in back-to-back games up front.

The New England Patriots offense has been plagued by a variety of issues so far this season, and continuity along the offensive line is right near the top of that list. Due to a mix of injury and performance, the group has experienced repeated movement through eight weeks.

There have been eight different players starting games along the O-line so far, with center David Andrews the only constant week in and week out. Only once this season — from Week 7 to Week 8 — have the Patriots been able to keep the same starting-five in place from one game to another.

That rotation has been a problem, and the results illustrate that. The Patriots have had their issues with pass protection and in run blocking.

They are ranked 30th in the league in pass protection, according to a composite grading score created by analyst Ben Baldwin, and 24th in run blocking. And while individual breakdowns played a part in that — rookie Atonio Mafi and trade pickup Vederian Lowe in particular had a hard time when seeing extended action — the overriding issue is the lack of stability from one game, and sometimes one series, to the next.

For guard Cole Strange, who himself, has seen action in just four games this year, that is the key to getting the unit back on track. And if the last two weeks are any indication, the line is trending in that direction.

“I hate to keep putting it back on this, but we’ve only just kind of recently gotten together,” he said on Wednesday. “We’ve had so many different combinations, and that’s one of the things in the offensive line, when you have guys who’ve worked together for a while, you kind of know how each other move, how you pass off double teams, how someone’s going to react to a certain move.

“I think it’s just continuing to play, get more experience playing with each other. There’s no easy way to do it, we just got to keep coming to practice, working on it each week.”

In Week 7 against the Buffalo Bills and Week 8 versus the Miami Dolphins, the Patriots settled on a starting lineup of Trent Brown, Strange, Andrews, Sidy Sow and Michael Onwenu. And while there was some movement at guard in Miami — possibly a result of conditioning concerns with youngsters Strange, Sow and Mafi — it appears those five are the group to move forward with.

That said, it remains to be seen whether or not that lineup will get the chance to work together again this week versus the Washington Commanders. Left tackle Brown, after all, was one of four players not participating in practice on Wednesday due to knee and ankle injuries.

If the veteran is unable to play this week — it would be his second absence after missing Week 2 with a concussion — the Patriots would likely turn to Lowe, who himself is dealing with an ankle issue, or practice squad member Conor McDermott. Obviously, missing Brown would be another blow to New England’s offensive line continuity.

When it comes to players missing time, Strange said the key is still staying as engaged as possible. He did, however, acknowledge that live reps simply cannot be replaced.

“Try to stay as engaged as you can in practice, meetings. Watch film, take mental reps,” he said. “There’s really no way to replace actually being out there and taking the reps, actually practicing, and actually playing. But that’s about all you can do.”

The Patriots will have to wait and see whether Brown’s absence will extend beyond one practice. If it does, however, the offensive line runs the risk of losing the positive momentum it appears to have built over the last two weeks.