Until a few days ago, his name was a punchline.

Short-hand for anyone who wanted to explain or emphasize how badly the Patriots’ offensive line situation has devolved.

You know who’s starting at left tackle?

Vederian Lowe.

But since injuring his knee in Week 2, Lowe has impossibly become the NFL’s unlikeliest source of hope.

The outside thinking goes if only Lowe can get healthy maybe, just maybe, the Patriots could finally field a functioning offensive line. Sure, he allowed four pressures in both of his starts this season. But Lowe at least offers more resistantce than backups behind him who only made their NFL debuts as injury replacements.

Those backups are third-round rookie Caedan Wallace, a lifelong right tackle, and second-year mystery man Demontrey Jacobs. The 25-year-old Jacobs hadn’t taken an NFL snap until last week, when he did anything but impress in 14 snaps of garbage time.Yet if he starts Sunday at San Francisco, he will become the Patriots’ 13th different starting left tackle since Week 1 of the 2022 season.

That’s not just bad luck. That’s bad planning, over and over again. And yet, here comes … Drake Maye?

Now, there is no guarantee Maye starts next week against Miami. But there are increasing signs that Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt feel comfortable handing their kid quarterback the keys. Several defensive coaches also highlighted Maye’s practice performance and football IQ this week, words that should carry more weight than normal coaching praise.

Because not only is Maye serving as the Patriots’ scout-team quarterback, he’s taking 30% of the starting reps from Jacoby Brissett; an unheard of figure across the league. Will that be enough for spring Maye off the bench, assuming his practice performance is as impressive as it’s been described?

That depends, as executive vice president of personnel Eliot Wolf told the Herald earlier this month.

“Obviously, it’s going to depend on how the team’s doing, and if Jacoby’s lighting it up, the chances of Drake getting in there are going to be lessened. But we just feel like the worst thing that could happen is you put a guy in before he’s ready, and then you have to take him out,” Wolf said. “And whether that’s him or somebody in another position, for a young player to not be ready and be put in that position, it can be counterproductive to their career.”

Which brings us back to Lowe.

New England Patriots offensive tackle Vederian Lowe reacts on the sideline during the second half of an NFL preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, Aug. 8 in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

On any list of the 10 most indispensable Patriots, Lowe is now impossibly a lock. With him, the Patriots can complete the starting offensive line they hoped to field at the end of training camp, with left guard Sidy Sow back healthy and rookie right guard Layden Robinson developing on the other side of center David Andrews, while Mike Onwenu mans his right tackle spot.

For the foreseeable future, that is as good as it gets for the worst pass-protecting offensive line in football.

But without Lowe, disaster threatens to strike Maye from behind every time he drops back. And Maye will get clobbered and crushed and knocked around because that’s life as an NFL quarterback. And after scouting him for more than a year, the Patriots believe Maye can take the grueling punishment that is inseparable from all other parts of playing the position.

They’re probably right. But how much punishment is too much?

Through three games, the Patriots are allowing 10 quarterback hits per game. Jacoby Brissett has felt pressure on roughly half the time he drops back to pass. Over his 10 dropbacks last week, Maye took two sacks and got smashed two other times.

Maybe that improves Sunday in San Francisco. Maybe not.

If it doesn’t, and the coaching staff feels Maye is fit to start, will they allow him to debut behind an offensive line arguably unfit to protect anyone and alongside a receiving corps that ranks bottom-5 by most traditional metrics and Pro Football Focus grades?

Patriots-49ers injury report: More changes coming to offensive starting lineup

In Washington, Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels — who started more than twice as many games in college as Maye did — has thrived in a similarly shaky environment. His performance might inspire some to believe Maye is capable of replicating that  results and oerc

But this week, Mayo cautioned against such comparisons, while admitting he’s spoken with Maye about Daniels and other rookie quarterbacks, including some who have struggled mightily or been injured.

“We have conversations about that, but I think you can go the other way with those examples. It’s easy to cherry pick a guy who just completed 90% of the passes and say, ‘How do you feel about that?’ There’s also the other end of the spectrum where a guy, I mean, they’re not doing anything,” Mayo said. “Whether it’s on injured reserve or they’re having struggles. So, it’s on an individual basis.

“I will say that (Maye)’s done a good job staying locked in and preparing as if he is a starter.”

In other words, to all those watching and wondering, hurry up and wait.

But maybe not for long.

One LB to another

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) celebrates after the Detroit Lions failed to covert on fourth down during the second half of the NFC Championship NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Over his eight-year playing career, Jerod Mayo made a couple Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team.

In one fewer season, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner has already topped both mark. A three-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, Warner is widely recognized as one of the best in football, a title Mayo once held. This week, Mayo scouted the 2018 third-round pick, whose college tape he said he once scouted after the fact to see what teams missed in the draft process.

“He’s one of the best in the league, and when you see him flying around out there – and he’s a very good tackler,” Mayo said. “Those guys up front do a good job protecting him, allowing him to do those things, but I have nothing but the ultimate respect for a guy like Fred Warner. I actually, when I first got into the league and started getting into scouting a little bit, I went back and watched some of his film in college just to see, like, ‘What did everyone miss with this guy?’ because he is such a good player.

“He can play in space as good as a big nickel. He’s a very good player, physical, all those things.”

Mayo entered the league as the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Callahan: Drake Maye’s ‘unique’ trait, Joe Milton’s no-look bombs and 3 more Patriots thoughts

Good defense, better offense

To explain the curious defanging of the Patriots’ blitz package, outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins turned to an NBA.

“I think it’s understood against the guy like (Aaron) Rodgers, like, you could have a hand in Steph Curry’s face, right? He’s gonna hit the 3-pointer anyway. That was Rodgers the other night,” Wilkins said Thursday. “And we felt like we had a hand in his face plenty, and he made some throws. And you know, you love those challenges, because that’s what this league’s about.

“You could have great defensive players. You could have a great defensive scheme. Sometimes guys are going to make throws and catches in this league, and with a guy like Rodgers, that’s going to happen more often than not.”

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Last week, Rodgers finished 7-of-9 for 84 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz, while the Jets offense produced a sparkling 77% success rate. In Week 2, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith went 10-of-12 for 171 yards, a touchdown, one sack and a scramble versus extra pressure, while the Seahawks averaged 13.2 yards per play against the blitz.

Wilkins, like defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, ascribed most of the breakdowns to technique problems and not play-calling.

Quote of the Week

“Oh, there we go. Honestly, I was like, I have to name a [Boston] Bruin, but thank you for that. Either you double-team this guy, but now you’re light over here. Same thing in basketball. So here you go, if you have Jayson Tatum over here versus someone who’s not really a scorer, and we overload a side, you’ve got to make a choice. We’re going to double-team Jayson Tatum and be short over here on the overload side, or we’ll just try to play it straight, and this guy now has a 1-on-1. All these games, same thing in soccer, it’s about space. Overload a side, cross it, do whatever, but it’s about numbers and space. — Jerod Mayo