Sunday Patriots Notes: Inside rookie Marte Mapu’s usage this season

Notes and thoughts on the Patriots and the NFL on Nov. 12.

The New England Patriots took a flight to Germany on Thursday night to play their first international game in six seasons: they will take on the Indianapolis Colts at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park. Naturally our focus this week was on that journey and all the storylines surrounding it.

For anything else not covered elsewhere on Pats Pulpit over the last few days, please make sure to check out our Sunday Patriots Notes.

1. Inside rookie Marte Mapu’s usage this season: The Patriots started their 2023 draft with three straight defensive selections. The last of which was as interesting a prospect as any they have picked in the last few years: Marte Mapu out of Sacramento State, a linebacker/safety hybrid with some intriguing traits as a chess-piece-type player in New England’s ever-changing defense.

The Patriots have used him in both roles, but recently he has been more of a traditional defensive back than a box player for the team. In total, 77 of his 148 defensive snaps have come as either a safety or cornerback compared to 68 in the box and three more on the defensive line.

For Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, this usage — both in terms of role and volume — is no surprise. The Patriots are trying him at multiple spots, but ultimately view him as more of a prospect at the safety spot right now.

“Anytime you come in as a rookie there’s a lot going on — not only on the field, but also off the field,” Mayo explained. “Sometimes it feels like you’re drinking from a fire hose. And a guy like Marte, who’s very smart, he puts in all the effort in the classroom and on the field.

“But at the end of the day, we’re going to play the best players. And honestly, I look forward to Marte really continuing to learn and get better as a safety first and then we’ll see what happens when he comes down to the second level.”

The Patriots’ coaching staff is cognizant of Mapu’s strengths as a jack of all trades within their defense. As safeties coach Brian Belichick said on Tuesday, this ability to move all over the defensive lineup is an asset.

Accordingly, the team is trying to get him to understand the defense from a holistic perspective before fine-tuning his role.

“Marte is a guy where his strength as a player is probably his versatility to play in the box and have the speed and athleticism to play other places on the field,” Belichick said. “So, he’s a guy, as a rookie coming from a small school, who you want to get experience throughout the defense and have him understanding the defense as a whole so that as he continues to get more and more involved, he really understands what he’s doing and how he can fit in.

“And if he doesn’t understand the big picture, then he’s not able to move to different spots. He’s done a great job of that; he’s eager in the classroom to learn multiple spots in the defense and understand the defense as a whole. That’s been great. He’s a guy who gets better with every rep, with the experience he gets. I’m happy with how he’s developing and exciting to see his career as it unfolds.”

At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Mapu fits the mold of a modern-day NFL linebacker who can move sideline to sideline and help out in the passing game. But while his pre-draft measurements suggested that such a usage is what fits him best, the Patriots are more concerned about what he would look like within their scheme and specific defensive packages.

As Belichick added, the question is not what a player did during the draft process or his college career but rather what he can do upon his arrival in New England.

“No matter what idea we had for a player in the draft process, once they get here the most important thing is seeing what they can do after they get here — what they can handle, how they fit into the defense, whether it’s athletically in their role, or how they can handle things mentally, physically,” he said.

“There’s different standards and things that players have to deal with in the NFL than in college. So, you have to see how they match up against bigger guys or different schemes that run at this level and how they can fit in. I think he has shown the ability to do multiple things on the field, and so we’re trying to develop him in that way.”

2. Bill Belichick in a good mood: Despite his team’s 2-7 record and questions about his future with the team, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was in a good mood throughout his Friday press conference at DFB Campus in Frankfurt. It was reminiscent of Belichick in the past during the lead-up to Super Bowls; he was as loose as we have seen him this season starting with his opening question: “Pretzels for lunch?”

3. Mac Jones assesses his own performance: Speaking to reporters in Frankfurt on Sunday, the Patriots’ starting quarterback was asked to give a review of his performance so far this season. He explained that he is looking at it from a week-to-week perspective, while trying to answer some big-picture questions.

“For us, we’ve got to make sure we know what the game plan is for this week and that focusing on where we are, we’ve got to be where our feet are, is what I always say,” he replied.

“Focus on, is it a pass? Is it a run? What’s my job? How can I do it really well? And then make sure that everyone around us is communicating, you know, upfront with the receivers, it takes all 11. So, that’s very important and I feel like we’ve actually made progress there, we just need to finish these games.”

Jones later added something that oftentimes appeared to be an issue for him this year: trying to make plays when none are available to be made. He noted that taking what is there is something he can improve.

“The biggest thing is how can I execute the game plan?” he asked. “I always say take what the defense gives. So, if they give you that, the deeper throw, then take it. If you’ve got time, then you’ve got to take it, and I can do a better job with that. At the same time, you can’t force, right? You can’t press. You have to read the play for what it is based on that play.”

4. Jack Jones took last week’s benching ‘like a man’: While much of the focus was on fellow J.C. Jackson this week — the veteran was left in the United States instead of joining the team in Germany — he was not the only player disciplined last week against the Washington Commanders. Fellow cornerback Jack Jones also was held out for parts of the game after reportedly missing curfew the night before.

According to safety Jabrill Peppers, however, the sophomore defender has responded well.

“He’s responded,” Peppers told reporters in Frankfurt on Friday. “We’re all grown men. He took it like a man. He knows what we expect from him. He knows what the team expects from him. And we expect that we’ll get that from him. So it is what it is. We handled it. It’s behind us now. The only thing to do is come out here with a win.”

5. Robert Kraft had a message for his team this week: Amid questions about the Patriots’ long-term future team owner Robert Kraft spoke to a group of fans at the so-called “Patriots Haus” in Frankfurt on Saturday. He did not talk about the state of his franchise, but mentioned that getting a win against the Colts was “critical” — a message he also shared with the team earlier that day.

“I had the pleasure of speaking with the team [Saturday] at the end of practice,” Kraft said. “And I told them that I had some people come up to me on the street and say, 33 years ago, they saw a game in Germany that Jackie Slater played in. That’s Matthew Slater, who is our best special teams player in the NFL — his dad played in Germany 33 years ago, No. 18. And they remember plays of him.

“So, I told them that every play [Sunday] was so significant. They’ve worked very hard, and getting a victory [Sunday] was critical. And they gave me a big cheer. So, let’s hope it translates to the field.”

6. The Patriots’ offensive line instability in one simple number: That number, by the way, is 58.

According to a breakdown by Sumer Sports, the Patriots’ most commonly-used offensive line combination has been on the field together for 16 percent of the team’s snaps on that side of the ball. That ranks it as the 58th most-used lineup in the league.

To make matters worse, that group isn’t even the top choice on the roster right now and includes two players currently serving as backups: tackle Vederian Lowe and guard Vederian Lowe are part of it, alongside Trent Brown, David Andrews and Michael Onwenu.

For comparison, the group that seems to be the best available at the moment — Brown, Cole Strange, Andrews, Sidy Sow, Onwenu — has played only 14.5 percent of snaps. It is ranked as the 63rd most-used O-line grouping in football so far this season.

7. Matthew Slater gets fined: The Patriots’ team captain was not penalized for a play in the late fourth quarter against the Commanders last week, but he nonetheless was fined: the NFL docked him $14,819 for unnecessary roughness.

Judge for yourself if that fine is warranted:

8. Nick Caserio gives insight into what he learned from Bill Belichick: Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio spent 20 seasons working various roles for the Patriots, including as the team’s director of player personnel. As such, he was Bill Belichick’s right-hand man for multiple seasons.

Appearing on the The Season with Peter Schrager podcast recently, Caserio opened up about what he learned from Belichick on his journey to the Texans.

“He’s so invested in every aspect of the process, it’s rare. It’s uncommon,” Caserio said. “The level of detail, the overall understanding. One of the things that I learned from him was among many things, which is just the big-picture perspective of understanding how all the different pieces and phases fit together.

“From offense, understanding what’s going on on defense, defense understanding what the offense is trying to do; how they use personnel; what are some of the things that are important; how to evaluate players; how to focus on their strengths; what are some of the things that they do well. And I think just the breath and overall understanding of players in the league, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who has that type of mental acuity as Bill has.”

9. Patriots fans still think Bill Belichick will coach the team in 2024: Despite the Patriots’ worst start since Belichick’s first season in 2000, fans believe the 71-year-old will be back as head coach next year. According to SB Nation’s latest Reacts survey, 58 percent of participants are of the opinion that he will lead the team into next season.

Whereas a majority of fans still believes Belichick will return in 2024, the same is not true for Mac Jones — at least as starting quarterback. Only 30 percent of participants think he will keep his job.

10. Setting up the week ahead: The Patriots will fly back to the United States shortly after their game against the Colts, and then head off into a much-needed bye week. While the team is expected to return to the practice fields at some point this week, there will be no injury reports or the like.

The Patriots will play their next game this season on Nov. 26 on the road versus the New York Giants.

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