Welcome to the Friday Five!

Each week during the NFL regular season, I will drop five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to kickoff.

Ready, set, football.

1. Maye on the move

Believe it or not, as they stumbled and bumbled to just 10 points last Sunday, the Patriots began to solidify their offensive identity. Not as a running team, but as an outside zone running team.

Over the last two weeks, the Pats are averaging 6.1 yards per carry off their base run scheme, including Rhamondre Stevenson’s 33-yard touchdown versus Miami and a 24-yard Antonio Gibson gain in the same game. Both Stevenson and Gibson are best suited for a zone-blocking scheme, off of which Alex Van Pelt’s system builds its most effective play-action passes; those that put the quarterback on the move with bootlegs.

One problem: defenses routinely shut down both the outside zone and play-action throws off it early this season. Jacoby Brissett went 4-of-8 for 28 net yards and a sack on bootleg passes, per Sports Info. Solutions. He felt pressure on 66% of those snaps, and couldn’t overcome that rush or generate any explosive plays, which caused the Patriots to call a league-low 22 play-action passes through Week 5.

Enter Drake Maye.

New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye runs a drill during practice at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Maye will start Sunday at a time the Patriots have their outside zone runs humming. Plus, he’s more mobile, boasts a quicker release and, unlike Brissett, does not need a stable platform to launch the ball downfield or nullify incoming pressure. One of Maye’s best preseason plays was a 4-yard completion on a naked bootleg where Eagles defensive end Nolan Smith bore down on him the second Maye turned around, and the quarterback whipped a sidearm completion to beat that pressure.

Brissett doesn’t make that throw, can’t make that throw. And the Patriots know they must protect Maye better than they did Brissett, who faced pressure on more than 42% of his dropbacks in every game.

“There’s definitely going to be ways that we can ensure that we’re going to take care of (Maye) in situations where there’s a lot of pressure,” Van Pelt said Thrusday.

Putting Maye on the move with bootleg play-action passes is one way to do that and simplify his reads and set up deep throws.

Or, achieve all three at once.

2. Beating the blitz

Here’s a nugget Van Pelt shared Thursday.

At the start of Wednesday’s padded practice, the Patriots’ starting offense and defense went head-to-head for an unusual period. It lasted just six plays. Every play, the defense blitzed.

According to Van Pelt, Maye solved the blitz and made a sound decision on all six snaps. If Maye can carry that recognition and problem-solving over to Sunday, it could mean a huge lift for the offense.

Through five games, the Patriots have the highest allowed pressure rate and second-lowest completion percentage (39.4%) versus five or more rushers, per Sports Info. Solutions. Both the Jets and Niners – who run similar defensive systems to Houston – broke character by blitzing the Patriots at a high rate. That paid off, as Brissett failed to clear 100 passing yards versus the Jets, and San Francisco held the Pats to 13 points in a blowout win.

Callahan: What the Patriots defense has seen from Drake Maye in practice

3. Will White bounce back?

After destroying the Bengals’ and Seahawks offensive lines in Weeks 1 and 2, establishing himself as a clear-cut breakout candidate across the league, Patriots defensive lineman Keion White has gone quiet.

Not only has his pressure dropped, but his recklessness is rising. White twice allowed 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to escape for first-down scrambles by rushing too far upfield, then took two penalties in last weekend’s loss too Miami. The latter was a roughing the passer penalty that extended a field goal drive.

Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington and defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery both downplayed White’s penalties on Thursday, believing their budding star will rebound.

“Never want penalties. But for him, love how he plays hard,” Covington said. “We want our players to know what to do, how to do it, and then they can play fast and aggressive. We just don’t want them to cross that line. Be right there on it.”

White produced by far the lowest Pro Football Focus grade of his career versus the Dolphins. He has 11 tackles, four quarterback hits and zero sacks since Week 2.

4. Do-it-yourself run game

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots’ Rhamondre Stevenson celebrates his touchdown during the 1st quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium . (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Forgive the incoming number avalanche, but the gist is this: Stevenson and Gibson are doing more to power the Pats’ run game than any backs in the league.

And it’s not even close.

Consider: the Patriots average the second-most yards after contact per run (3.5) in the NFL. They’ve posted the fourth-highest percentage of runs with a broken or missed tackle. And their backs are hitting the designed gap on barely 60% of their run plays, the second-lowest percentage in the league; meaning they’re making gains despite ineffective run-blocking that doesn’t allow plays to develop as intended.

To that point: the Pats rank fourth-worst in run-blocking at Pro Football Focus and bottom 10 by ESPN’s run-block win rate. Stevenson and Gibson are not only carrying the ball. They’re carrying the entire offense.

5. Peppers’ future uncertain

Until the justice system and/or the NFL pass judgment, it’s worth noting that it is at least possible Jabrill Peppers has played his final down for the Patriots.

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Jerod Mayo’s opening statement at Wednesday’s press conference was somewhat telling. Roughly 48 hours after declaring the Patriots had no reason to bar Peppers from the facility following his arrest for alleged assault and drug possession, Mayo said the veteran safety would not be in the building “in the near term.”

“I just want to be clear that really any act of domestic violence is unacceptable for us,” Mayo said Wednesday. “As a team, no matter if you’re a player, staff member, we’re wholeheartedly against any type of domestic violence. I know the organization’s position, which I fully support. With that being said, I do think that Jabrill has to go through the system, has to continue to go through a due process, and we’ll see how that works out.”

The Krafts have long drawn a hard line at domestic violence, despite allowing the NFL to act first in Peppers’ case. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell placed Peppers on the commissioner’s exempt list minutes before Mayo’s press conference. Peppers is unable to practice or play so long as he’s on the list, but the decision to keep him out of the facility belonged to the Patriots.