It’s been more than four months.

And yet, the most instructive words anyone has said about the Patriots’ season still belong to Jerod Mayo, who uttered them the day before he ran his first training camp practice.

“A successful season, in my eyes, is really about the foundation,” Mayo said back on July 23. “Have we put together a good foundation of a combination of young and older players to really start competing? It would be great to get up here and say we’re going to win a Super Bowl, but once again, it’s about the process.

“I tell the guys all the time, it’s about process and progress and moving forward.”

There you have it.

All along, the Patriots’ objective was to develop and identify talent while winning, not winning itself. On Friday, Mayo offered a reminder near the end of a tough year.

At 3-9 with five games left, he was asked during a morning press conference if his preparation changes once the team suffers a losing streak.

“Any time you lose a football game, you try to put more into it. At the same time, the process is the process. You go into a season, especially during a time of peace, what does my process look like as far as preparing for a game? I think we’re on the right track,” he said during a morning press conference. “We want to win more games, but going forward, we have to lay the foundation down before we put the blinds up.”

That foundation, as it stands now, consists of the following players: quarterback Drake Maye, cornerback Christian Gonzalez, defensive tackle Christian Barmore, offensive lineman Mike Onwenu and smaller pieces like Kyle Dugger, Keion White, DeMario Douglas and Rhamondre Stevenson. But two potential stars amid eight players who can safely be projected to return and/or draw interest after next season does not a foundation make.

So that leaves Mayo and de facto GM Eliot Wolf still searching for answers, and further underscores the rest of the season as a fact-finding mission. Mayo admitted as much earlier this week, saying the Patriots needed to learn more about certain players. Whom exactly?

New England Patriots rookie guard Layden Robinson blocks during an NFL preseason game against the Washington Commanders on Aug. 25 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

“Look, I would say, not to get too specific, but I will. You need a guy like (offensive guard) Layden Robinson to show what he can do. We need a guy like Cole Strange before the end of the season to see what he can do. You can use Caedan (Wallace) in that same bucket,” Mayo said Friday.

He continued: “We need to see what the receivers can do and what they’re going to look like going forward, and that’s the hard part for me. Look, you want to win right now, but at the same time, I think it would be a disservice to go to the end of the season and not know exactly what we have.”

Thanks to injuries and inconsistencies along their offensive line, knowing what they have unfortunately may be too big of an ask by the Patriots’ young regime.

Robinson is tracking to play a new position Sunday against the Colts. A college right guard who briefly cross-trained on the opposite side this summer, Robinson took reps at left guard in practice and may start there after the Patriots released starting left guard Michael Jordan on Tuesday. So if he survives, it was only one game. And if Robinson struggles, well, then what did you expect?

Meanwhile, Wallace hasn’t played since Week 3. Strange hasn’t played at all, and won’t suit up Sunday. Mayo’s remark about “the receivers” surely includes fourth-round rookie Javon Baker, who’s played all of 30 offensive snaps this year. He still doesn’t have a target.

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots’ Ja’Lynn Polk gets pushed out of bounds by Seattle Seahawks’ Tre Brown during the second quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Ja’Lynn Polk has seen 30 targets this season, but caught only a dozen of them. As the Patriots’ highest draft pick after Drake Maye, Polk represented a significant effort by the team to address a position of need. Instead, Polk’s performance and inability to even earn starting reps within one of the NFL’s five worst receiving corps has arguably revealed the room to be in worse shape than it was last season.

In fact, Tyquan Thornton’s release two weeks ago marked a clear effort by the Patriots to clear a runway for Polk and Baker to see more snaps. Granted, after starting most of the summer and later Week 1, Thornton’s play fell off, and with it his playing time. But in the two games since Thornton’s release, Polk has as many penalties as receptions, and Baker may still be running the wrong routes.

On Friday, Mayo acknowledged some of the team’s recent transactions have been aimed at providing more time to young players like Polk and Baker.

“I would say a few of them,” he said. “I don’t want to get into specifics, but definitely a few for sure.”

Now, after cutting Thornton and Jordan, the Patriots are out of transactions. The pressure is on these young players to produce with the snaps they earn. Whether the Patriots have any foundational pieces beyond the obvious is unknown, and may be unknowable even after the next five games.

But soon enough, pressure will shift from the players back to Mayo and the front office during an offseason when the Patriots will be preparing to win again.

Bye, bye, bye

Miami Dolphins linebacker Chop Robinson (44) sacked New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The Patriots’ bye week will follow Sunday’s game against the Colts. The Pats are one of six teams with a scheduled bye in Week 14, the latest in the NFL.

To prepare for a long stretch of 13 straight games, Mayo revealed Friday he’s given players more off days during the season than he normally would have.

“Some of those victory Mondays, they shouldn’t have really been victory Mondays. Only had a few wins, that was a way to try to keep those guys fresh, as well,” Mayo said. “You have to use different techniques and change the times of certain things to get these guys fresh. Especially at this point in the year, it’s all about being healthy and being fresh out there.”

The Patriots worked with a full roster in all three of their practices this week, including reinstated safety Jabrill Peppers and offensive lineman Cole Strange, who remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list.

QB lookalike

Last week, Joe Milton was miscast.

The Patriots’ 6-foot-5, 246-pound quarterback was tasked with helping simulate Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa during practice. Milton, a right-handed quarterback, hardly resembled Tagovailoa, a listed 6-foot-1, 225-pound lefty.

But this week, Milton came straight out of central casting to play Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

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At practice, Milton led the Patriots’ scout-team offense while it ran Colts plays to help their starting defense. Richardson, at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, also happens to resemble Milton in playing style. The two of them may boast the two strongest arms in the NFL, and often showcased that strength in college, launching deep balls in the SEC.

Richardson, a Florida alum, currently leads the NFL in years per completion, while Milton, a Tennessee product, has said he can throw the ball more than 90 yards.Several Patriots defenders lauded Milton’s practice performance this week, while Jerod Mayo noted the sixth-round rookie also executed some of Richardson’s option run plays.

“I would say Joe’s (Milton III) done a phenomenal job being the show team quarterback this week. He’s another one, (get back) when he has the ball in his hands, and it’s been good practice,” Mayo said. “I will say this: the quarterback design runs is just a different element with this quarterback. Look, we all have to be on the same page.”

Quote of the Week

“Yeah, I’m blessed. I’m thankful for a bunch of things. I’ve got a great family, at a great spot in my life, just trying to take advantage of the opportunities that I have. I’m grateful for this team, this organization. I’m grateful to the good Lord and blessed for all that He’s given to me and His purpose. So, just trying to live through that, just thankful for good people and thankful for getting the opportunity this Sunday.” — Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on what he’s grateful for this Thanksgiving