{"id":21853,"date":"2024-12-28T23:06:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T23:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=21853"},"modified":"2024-12-28T23:06:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T23:06:14","slug":"update-six-young-patriots-players-still-untested-with-two-games-left-on-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=21853","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Six young Patriots players still untested with two games left on schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Long out of playoff contention, the Patriots have three things to play for Saturday against the Chargers: spoiler, personal pride and fact-finding.<\/p>\n

The Chargers have yet to clinch a playoff berth, so the Patriots could stand in their way, and obviously, players should still be trying their best to prove themselves to their current employers or other teams. However, the Patriots\u2019 front office and coaches should also test out young players so they know what they have for the future.<\/p>\n

Here are six players we\u2019d like to see more from before the season is over.<\/p>\n

WR Ja\u2019Lynn Polk<\/h4>\n

The Patriots\u2019 second-round pick hasn\u2019t caught a pass for over a month and has just four catches on 19 targets for 26 yards since the first month of the season.<\/p>\n

With 12 catches on 32 targets for 87 yards and two touchdowns, Polk\u2019s rookie season is going almost impossibly bad. And that\u2019s before you compare it to Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who has 69 catches for 960 yards with five touchdowns.<\/p>\n

McConkey was taken 34th overall. The Patriots originally owned that pick before passing on McConkey, trading down to No. 37 overall and taking Polk.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to understand how Polk\u2019s year has gone so poorly. He was widely regarded as a second-round talent and looked like the Patriots\u2019 best outside wide receiver in training camp.<\/p>\n

The belief within Gillette Stadium is that Polk\u00a0got in his own head\u00a0after some early drops. A team source said the rookie wideout is hard on himself.<\/p>\n

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Polk played a career-low three offensive snaps in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Bills. At this point, with how Polk\u2019s rookie season is going, the Patriots can\u2019t count on him to do anything in 2025.<\/p>\n

Getting some production out of him over the final two weeks would potentially at least provide a confidence boost.<\/p>\n

WR Javon Baker<\/h4>\n

Baker out-snapped Polk for the first time all season on Sunday against the Bills. He was targeted just once and has yet to haul in his first NFL pass.<\/p>\n

So, in some ways, Baker\u2019s rookie season is actually going worse than Polk\u2019s. Baker was a fourth-round pick, however, so expectations should be lower.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t help that he boasted after the 2024 NFL Draft that his play on the field makes people in wheelchairs stand up. Yes, he really said that.<\/p>\n

The Patriots began to increase Baker\u2019s role in Week 15 with eight snaps. Maybe, if given similar playing time, rookie QB Drake Maye could connect with him for the first time this season.<\/p>\n

Baker led college football with a 21.9 yards per catch average last season, so targeting him on a go route might be the best course of action.<\/p>\n

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New England Patriots wide receiver Javon Baker makes a catch during practice outside Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OT Caedan Wallace<\/h4>\n

Wallace\u00a0hasn\u2019t played since\u00a0Week 4 due to an ankle injury. He played four games to start the season and allowed three pressures, including one sack, in 70 snaps at jumbo tight end and left tackle.<\/p>\n

Offensive line coach Scott Peters said this month that Wallace has been focusing on right tackle in his return from injured reserve.<\/p>\n

Patriots right tackle Demontrey Jacobs sees too much fluctuation in his play. In 13 games, he\u2019s allowed four or more pressures six times and one or fewer pressures four times. It\u2019s hard to know which player is going to show up week-to-week, and Jacobs struggled against the Bills, allowing five pressures. A poor cut block led the Bills\u2019 defense to score when running back Rhamondre Stevenson couldn\u2019t haul in a backward pass from Maye with defensive end Gregory Rousseau running free and charging at the pass-catcher after Jacobs failed to slow him down.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth getting Wallace snaps at right tackle before the season ends.<\/p>\n

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New England Patriots offensive tackle Caedan Wallace in the first half of an NFL game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 15 in Foxboro. (AP Photo\/Michael Dwyer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OL Cole Strange<\/h4>\n

Starting center Ben Brown has missed practice this week after being diagnosed with a concussion.<\/p>\n

That could lead Strange, who\u00a0dressed in his first game\u00a0of the season last week, to start. The Patriots\u2019 other option is Lecitus Smith.<\/p>\n

Strange began the season on the PUP list as he recovered from a torn patellar tendon suffered last December. He played three snaps on Sunday but all came on special teams.<\/p>\n

Strange has never played center in the NFL, so starting there against the Chargers would be a challenge. But the Patriots need to know if Strange can be counted on to play a big role next season.<\/p>\n

CB Alex Austin<\/h4>\n

Austin has played sparingly since he missed the middle part of the schedule with an ankle injury. But he\u2019s allowed just six receptions on 11 targets for 60 yards with a touchdown and three pass breakups in four games.<\/p>\n

With cornerback Marcus Jones\u00a0out with a hip injury, that frees up Jonathan Jones to play the slot against McConkey and Austin and Christian Gonzalez to line up outside.<\/p>\n

S Marte Mapu<\/h4>\n

Depending on the health of fellow safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, Mapu has either been a starter or healthy scratch this season.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s coming off of a mostly solid performance against the Bills, picking off quarterback Josh Allen and breaking up another pass. He did make the ill-advised decision to take his interception out of the end zone rather than taking a touchback, resulting in the Patriots\u2019 offense getting the ball from the 1-yard line.<\/p>\n

Whoops.<\/p>\n

Mapu was a third-round pick in 2023. It\u2019s been strange to see Dell Pettus and Jaylinn Hawkins active over him when he\u2019s been a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long out of playoff contention, the Patriots have three things to play for Saturday against the Chargers: spoiler, personal pride and fact-finding. 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