Despite multiple declarations that they were proud to be a run-first team, the Patriots passed on seven of their first nine plays in Thursday’s ugly loss to the New York Jets.

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt regretted that approach.

In a video conference Friday morning, Van Pelt said he should have leaned more on New England’s productive run game.

“We were really just trying to marry the run game with the run actions, and it didn’t go the way we wanted to,” Van Pelt said. “And then by the time you get back out there, you’re down a couple scores and then you have to kind of abandon the run, unfortunately, at that point. But definitely in hindsight, looking back, we probably should have flipped that and run it more early to set it up later. You earn the right to run those actions when you’re running the ball well, and it didn’t go our way last night.”

Those first seven Patriots pass plays resulted in four completions for 16 yards and one sack, with Jacoby Brissett facing near-constant pressure behind an offensive line that was playing a second-stringer at left guard and a third-string rookie at left tackle.

New England punted on its first two possessions. By the time it got the ball a third time, the Jets were up 14-0. They wound up cruising to a 24-3 victory that was even more lopsided than the score suggested.

After averaging 37.5 carries and 177.5 rushing yards in their first two games, the Patriots rushed just 15 times for 78 yards Thursday night. Overall, they averaged a meager 2.9 yards per play and scored points on just one of their nine drives.

“We thought that we earned the right to be able to push the ball down the field,” Van Pelt explained. “We’re trying to find more explosives in our pass game, and that comes through the run and the run action. That was the thought process going in. Again, in hindsight, I’d probably run it a little bit more early. We (had) five runs, eight passes that were non-third down in the first half, so not a lot of opportunities.

“That’s the biggest thing that stands out. We have to be able to convert on third down to move the chains and give us more chances to have those opportunities.”

Notably, when asked a similar question, head coach Jerod Mayo said the Patriots’ problems had more to do with execution than game-planning.

“We felt good about the game plan going in,” Mayo said. “What I will say is defensively, we were on the field too much, and then offensively, we weren’t on the field enough, and that’s what it comes down to. It comes down to executing.

“We talk about being a game-plan team and we talk about our identity. It’s still early in the season, but we’re just trying to find the right combination of not only players on the field, but also with our scheme in all three phases.”

When the Patriots did run against the Jets, they didn’t find much success. Lead back Rhamondre Stevenson struggled, rushing six times for 23 yards and losing a fumble.

It was Stevenson’s third fumble in three games this season, the first two of which New England was able to recover.

“Obviously, you can’t fumble the football,” Van Pelt said. “That’s the No. 1 thing. Job security is ball security. Now he’s got a target on his back. Teams are going to see that, and they’re going to come after the football. … That was an unfortunate one (Thursday) night that could have been avoided. I felt like we had tried to get something going in the run game, and then when that happens, you’re like, ‘Oh, here we go.’

“But I know he’ll address it. I know he’s proud about it, and we’ve been really good so far on not giving the ball away. And that’s an area where he’ll be better because of it.”