FOXBORO — It was a simple question.

What are one or two things the offense can do to start scoring more points Sunday?

The Patriots’ assistant coaches came with various answers Friday.

Running backs coach Taylor Embree started in the obvious place: turnovers and explosive plays. No statistics are more strongly correlated with winning than those two. Embree’s star pupil, Rhamondre Stevenson, has as many fumbles as certain teams do. Together with Jacoby Brissett, Stevenson has more fumbles than the majority of teams in the NFL.

That, Embree said, has to stop.

“One, just hold on to the football. All right, first and foremost, we got to start there,” Embree said. “And you know, my message to the guys is, we’ve been doing a good job of making one (defender) miss. We got to make one guy miss and find a way to turn those into explosive (plays).

“So I just look at what can we do in our (position) room right now to help this offense? And to me, it’s take care of the football, create explosives in the run game.”

The Patriots have struggled to generate not only explosive plays, but positive gains off of their base run play: outside zone. The Pats are averaging just 4.1 yards per carry through that scheme and posting a positive play 25% of the time, per Sports Info. Solutions, a bottom-10 rate in the league.

Instead, Stevenson and Antonio Gibson have hit their most successful runs between the tackles on plays like inside zone and duo. Embree said those runs allow the Patriots’ offensive linemen to be more physical up front and initiate contact, while Stevenson and Gibson get downhill. Not that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and his staff are giving up on their most fundamental run scheme, but it could take some time to establish the outside zone play.

New England Patriots back Antonio Gibson runs up field during the second quarter of a Sept. 15 game against Seattle at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

“I’ve been in a wide zone scheme since I’ve been coaching, and that stuff takes time,” Embree said. “There’s a lot of things that can go wrong in a wide zone. So that thing takes time, and I think as we build that up, we’re able to rely on the tight zone and the duos and some of the gap schemes.”

The Patriots could also benefit from bulking up with their personnel. Last Sunday, they posted a measly 26% success rate from three-receiver sets, a result of poor receiver separation and bad pass protection. But that success rate was near 45% when they went with two tight ends.

Tight ends coach Bob Bicknell sees an improved run game whenever the Patriots deploy veterans Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper at the same time.

“I think our run game is really working there. And I think we have two really accomplished tight ends,” Bicknell said. “I mean, those guys, Austin Hooper’s been in the Pro Bowl. Obviously Hunter Henry’s is one of the, in my opinion, probably complete tight ends in the league. You know, one of the best guys. … And then, you know, I think they can make plays in the pass game.”

Under Van Pelt, the Patriots offense is designed to take deep shots off play-action fakes. So far, opponents have stopped those attempts either with preemptive blitzes that force Brissett to unload the ball quickly or two-deep coverage on early downs that keeps their receivers from winning deep. In fact, at 41 yards on 17 dropbacks, the Patriots rank dead last in net yards off play-action, including yardage lost on sacks.

Bicknell offered a theory behind their struggles, chalking it up to a league-wide defensive evolution.

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson celebrates his touchdown with Hunter Henry, left, during the fourth quarter of a Sept. 15 game against the Seahawks at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

“You game plan and you’re trying to figure out, ‘OK, this is the (defense) we’re trying to get. This is what we think we’re gonna have. This is the tendency that they have.’ Well, defensive coaches nowadays, you start to look at the rundown at the way they play, and it’s like 33 percent (of the time they play) Cover 2, 33 percent (Cover 4), and 33 percent man-to-man (coverage),” Bicknell began.

“And it used to be, when I first got in this league, I could tell you on third-and-1 to eight, it’s man coverage. And you got all your man-beater (play)s, and obviously they progressed into that. And I don’t know. I just keep reading about the runs being up and more Cover 2 and more of that, and you do see it.

“And so you’ve got to move the ball enough to get your opportunities. And I think when we’ve been able to sustain drives, then you get your opportunity to take those shots. If you’re not sustaining, then you’re trying to get going that way.”

Whether the Patriots find better tells or run a higher rate of certain schemes or personnel grouping, wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes is optimistic the team is nearing its identity. He believes the more the Patriots commit to their best plays and best players, the better off they’ll be.

“I think as the season goes on, you start to understand your identity more and more, and whether that’s schematics or (putting) players in certain spots. And so I think that would be my thought: we just need to continue to just carve out that identity. And I think we’re doing a good job of that in terms of knowing where we want to go. We’ve just got to just keep chopping wood and get to that spot,” he said.

Captains shoot down ‘mutiny’

Patriots captains came to the defense of head coach Jerod Mayo on Friday, following comments made by a team-employed writer on a team-produced podcast Thursday that the locker room was heading toward a mutiny.

Safety Jabrill Peppers runs through warmups during New England Patriots practice in Foxboro. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

“Right now, they’re teetering on a mutiny in that locker room,” Patriots writer Evan Lazar said. “I was in that locker room on Sunday, the defense is mad at the defense, the offense is mad at the offense.”

In a Friday interview on WEEI, Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise said: “I don’t think that’s true at all. I think that’s very false. I don’t know where those words or thoughts or opinions could come from. We have a lot of guys here who bust their butts every day to get better; come here first thing in the morning, 5, 5:30, 6 in the morning. … If any anger’s in the building, it’s because they just want to win. And we all have the culture and the mindset of – the culture that they’ve built here is winning.

“If anything, we just want to win and get better. But there is no turmoil, there is no animosity, there is no whatever word he used in the locker room.”

Veteran safety Jabrill Peppers was more succinct in an interview.

“That’s absolute bulls—,” Peppers told A to Z Sports. “You can quote me on that.”

In his Friday morning press conference, Mayo admitted the team was dealing with internal frustrations amid a three-game losing streak and called it a “normal human response.”

As for the suggestion of a mutiny, Mayo said: “My focus is definitely on the Dolphins 100 percent, and the guys in the locker room. I haven’t heard that. That’s journalism for you. I’m not sure.”

Onwenu back to OG

Patriots offensive lineman Mike Onwenu took snaps at right guard during Friday’s practice. So, was it a changeup or a sign of things to come?

Patriots offensive line coach Scott Peters told reporters Friday that he ultimately wants Onwenu at guard long-term.

“In a perfect world, Mike is a guard, really physically,” Peters said. “He can play tackle. He’s a rare athlete that way (who) can move. But if you had your way, you’d like to see Mike at guard, just with the power inside and keeping the pocket firm there. He understands that and wears a lot of hats. But you want him to be able to really dig into something and in a perfect world you like to see him at guard.”

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Onwenu has taken all 248 of his offensive snaps at right tackle this season. In 68 career regular-season games, Onwenu has played 1,796 snaps at right tackle, 1,425 at right guard and another 402 at left guard, a position he hasn’t played since 2021. Onwenu may also be pivoting to guard temporarily to offset the struggles of rookie Layden Robinson, who did not work with the starting offensive line for opening stretches of recent team practice.

Robinson allowed a team-worst five pressures last Sunday at San Francisco.

“It’s a lot to come in here and play. It’s a lot for rookies in general, especially as you’re going through a time of transition and offensive line in particular, our offensive line right now,” Mayo said of Robinson. “To have to play different spots, it’s tough. But he’ll be a good player, for sure.”

Quote of the Week

“It’s tough when a guy like that goes down because he’s not going down for anything minor. I talked to him this morning and he’s like, ‘I think I’m going to try.’ I’m like, ‘Dave, come on man. As much as I would love for you to.’ He means so much to this team. Not only just on the field but off the field. His presence in the locker room, and obviously in this community. He’s been here for so long and you wish you had 53 David Andrews’.” — Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett on losing center David Andrews to a shoulder injury