FOXBORO — On a six-game losing streak and seemingly hitting a new low every week, it’s hard to pinpoint the Patriots’ biggest issues because they’re innumerable.

The Patriots have one of the NFL’s worst rosters, a rookie head coach, a rookie defensive coordinator, a rookie quarterback, an inexperienced offensive play-caller, a decimated offensive line and a defense missing three of its best players after trading away a fourth before the season.

This was a team that wasn’t favored to win a game, and things have only gotten worse since the schedule was released in May.

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And that’s not to make excuses for the 2024 Patriots. Things were expected to go poorly this season, which is in part why the team has chosen to spend only half of the cap space they had available this spring, why they have shown little interest in signing or trading for veteran stop-gap players who wouldn’t be part of the team’s future and why they were willing to trade Matthew Judon to the Falcons.

But losing by double-digits to the Jaguars in London? Getting beaten at home by a 2-4 Dolphins team without Tua Tagovailoa? Things are worse than even anticipated.

One team source believes the issues stem from a lack of talent and a lack of leadership, and that goes for players and coaches.

Three of the Patriots’ original captains are now on injured reserve (linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and center David Andrews) or the commissioner’s exempt list (safety Jabrill Peppers). A fourth captain, quarterback Jacoby Brissett, has been benched.

“We have to have guys stepping up, because obviously we’ve lost multiple captains due to circumstances and injuries,” defensive end Keion White said Wednesday. “So therefore, like now, we have to find our new leadership and find our voices and things like that. …

“I think we’re all collectively trying to fill the roles. But again, especially people like Bent, just as a voice in the locker room, is a very hard role to fill.”

The Patriots’ passing offense has come around since Drake Maye took over at quarterback, though the running game has struggled. While offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt had only called plays in one previous season, he’s experienced in his role as a coordinator. The Patriots also have a former head coach on their offensive staff in senior offensive assistant Ben McAdoo.

Defensively, Jerod Mayo is in his first year as a head coach, and he was never a defensive coordinator at any level. He shared a de facto role with Steve Belichick under defensive mastermind Bill Belichick. Mayo has also been largely delegating as a CEO-style head coach and entrusting first-time defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington to run the unit. No one on the defensive staff has been more than a positional coach.

“Look, DeMarcus is our defensive coordinator,” Mayo said Wednesday when asked if he could take more ownership over the defense. “Look, I have ownership of the defense, the offense and special teams. That’s how I look at it. Those guys are coordinators, but once again, ultimately, it falls on me.”

Mayo was spotted working closely with the Patriots’ linebackers and linebackers coach Dont’a Hightower during practice Wednesday. Since Bentley went on injured reserve with a torn pectoral, the positional group has been one of the team’s biggest weaknesses.

A team source believes that some of the team’s issues stem from a lack of experience on staff. The Patriots’ ownership, CEO and chairman Robert Kraft and president Jonathan Kraft, must decide whether they’ll allow that experience to come organically or if they need to step in at some point and forcibly inject more experience into the coaching staff, especially on defense. Mayo would have benefitted from a veteran assistant head coach.

The Patriots’ defense ranked eighth last season in EPA (expected points added) per play. They were 15th in dropback EPA/play and second in run defense EPA/play. They’re playing without Bentley, Peppers and defensive tackle Christian Barmore – the former two of whom are captains – but they’ve gained cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones from last season and rank 28th in EPA/play, 29th in dropback EPA/play and 24th in rush EPA/play now this season.

“I feel like we’re just trying to find our way,” White said. “We have a lot of new pieces right now, so from new head coach to new coordinator to new positional coaches, and now with major injuries and the losses on our defensive side of the ball, new players. So we’re just really trying to find our way of, like, clicking and fitting together, and defense is a big thing about, like, bonding and knowing where your teammates are going to be and trusting your teammates. And if we haven’t practiced together all offseason, all things like that, like we’ve done with the people that we’re missing, then it’s hard to find that chemistry midseason. So we’re still trying to find our way in the midst of everything, and I feel like that’s what you guys are seeing on the field.”

The unit has been trying to install some new elements schematically into the defense, and it’s not sticking yet, per a source. Those come from outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, who came over from the Giants and Ravens, and defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, who was hired from the Packers.

Mayo said after Sunday’s 32-16 loss to the Jaguars that the Patriots are a soft team because they can’t run the ball, stop the run or defend kicks. He walked back those comments Monday, saying the team is playing soft.

Still, players like safety Marte Mapu, defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale and tight end Hunter Henry plan to use that as motivation.

“It’s a physical game. You never want that to be your identity at all,” Henry said.

Wise, a team captain, said he didn’t hear the comments.

“I don’t really think anybody took it any type of way, honestly. I don’t think anybody ever heard what he said,” Wise said. “And even if they did, they’re on to what can we do to play better? That’s what their mindset is.”

White said he felt like the comments were overblown.

“You can’t take offense to when somebody’s calling you out for what you’re doing wrong, and if we want to not be called out, then you have to play better,” White said.

Ultimately, a team source believes the Patriots are going through “typical transition year problems.”

And sometimes, that pays off. The 49ers were 8-24 in Kyle Shanahan’s first two seasons before going 13-3 in Year 3. The Bengals were 6-25-1 in Zac Taylor’s first two seasons before going 10-7 in Year 3. The Lions were 3-13-1 in Dan Campbell’s first season before going 21-13 in his next two years. It’s natural for fans to get impatient while going through the reset, however.