FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Three and out?

Is the Patriots’ season already over after a 1-2 start, with the starting quarterback now bothered by a high ankle sprain that will in all likelihood keep him out of the lineup for a month or longer?

Well, it sure is easy to drive off that cliff and believe the Patriots are already toast. They didn’t exactly establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with in the first three games.

And that was with Mac Jones.

How can it possibly be any different with Brian Hoyer, who will get the nod as the starter if Jones can’t play? Why would anyone be optimistic about the future with Hoyer, a quarterback who has lost his last 11 starts?

Two words: the schedule.

It allows for a light at the end of the tunnel. The schedule is the Patriots’ friend when it comes to surviving while Jones takes time to mend.

So, no, the sky hasn’t fallen just yet. There’s no need for doom and gloom.

After facing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who are next up on Sunday, there’s a succession of teams the Patriots should be able to beat even without Jones: Detroit (2-1), Cleveland (2-1), Chicago (2-1), the New York Jets (1-2) twice and Indianapolis (1-1-1).

That takes the Patriots through Week 11, on the other side of their bye and into mid-November.

Those are six very winnable games, with four of six at Gillette Stadium. Even with a backup, the Patriots should win at least half of those games, assuming Hoyer’s the starter throughout.

But let’s dig deeper.

After Rodgers on Sunday, Jared Goff, Jacoby Brissett, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson (twice) and Matt Ryan make up the starting quarterbacks the Patriots will face in those games. Not exactly a who’s who of elite NFL quarterbacks. Between them, only Goff and Brissett have recorded wins against the Patriots. Ryan is 0-4.

Let’s dig even deeper.

Dan Campbell (second season as a head coach), Kevin Stefanski (third season), Matt Eberflus (first season), Robert Saleh (second season) and Frank Reich (fifth season) are the head coaches for those teams. Campbell and Eberflus have never matched wits with Bill Belichick. Stefanski is 0-1 after a 45-7 loss in Foxborough, Saleh is 0-2, while Reich is 1-1.

The bottom line?

The Patriots can, and should, be able to stay afloat during Jones’ down time, if it falls in line with the typical recovery for a high ankle sprain. There’s no excuse for them to just crawl in a hole and be completely buried by the time Jones returns.

Who knows? He might even be back before the Week 10 bye in the second week of November.

As Belichick said about a dozen times on Wednesday, Jones’ status is a “day-by-day” deal. Based on the nature of severe high ankle sprains, however, it’s more like week-by-week, especially if Jones doesn’t opt for surgery.

That being said, we’re looking at Hoyer for the foreseeable future. There’s really no way around it, no matter how much Belichick tries to keep everyone in the dark.

Now, it’s not likely the Patriots are going to be able to take down Rodgers & Co. in Green Bay on Sunday. That was also the assumption with Jones under center. In theory, they were going to be 1-3 no matter which way you slice it.

That’s exactly how they started last year. They were 2-4 before ripping off seven straight wins in the middle of the season.

It’s set up similarly this year, with the soft part of the schedule just around the corner.

Obviously, it’s not optimal having to navigate without Jones for a time. But Hoyer should be able to get them through this stretch.

He knows the offense – even it’s some of the old mixed in with the new – and if he plays mistake-free, the Patriots should come out of it with their heads above water. Yes, Hoyer has had some shaky games recently. He hasn’t delivered, particularly in the big moments.

But he is a similar type of quarterback to Jones style-wise, is respected by his teammates, and should be able to handle the assignment. He might also do a better job of dealing with some of the head-scratching decisions of first-time offensive play caller Matt Patricia, something that left Jones visibly frustrated at times.

Whether Hoyer is able to escape pressure with a leaky offensive line is another matter. But it’s not like the Patriots are throwing in the towel and putting rookie Bailey Zappe in there to see what they have in the 2022 fourth-round pick.

Belichick is not looking to run the table with losses.

So based on the upcoming opponents, there’s really no excuse if the Patriots sink further into the abyss.

“You never want to see a key player hurt,” center David Andrews said Wednesday. “I think a lot of us have a lot of confidence in Brian. He comes in and prepares every day. We have a lot of confidence in each other as a whole.

“It’s early, things happen,” he went on. “Mac’s not going to be the only starter on the team that goes down … injuries are a part of it. You gotta out there and compete. You gotta go out there and play … the reality is, it starts with us. It always will.”

The players know the drill. They’ve had to deal with losing significant players. They are well aware how they handle this situation, how they manage without Jones will make or break the season.

“We’re very early on in our season here and if we don’t handle it the right way, this thing can spiral away from us,” Matthew Slater said earlier in the week.

Schedule-wise, there’s no reason for it to spiral in the wrong direction. If it does, it’s on the Patriots. There are no excuses if they go tumbling off the cliff.

« Previous

Patriots notebook: Aaron Rodgers the next QB test after failure against Lamar Jackson

Next »

Patriots QB Jones ruled out for Sunday’s game