Jerod Mayo provides a promising injury update on Sidy Sow
FOXBORO -- The Patriots may get starting left guard Sidy Sow back for this weekend's game against the 49ers in San Francisco. That's great news for a New England offensive line that can use all the help it can get.
Sow missed the first three games of the season with an ankle injury, but took the practice field on Monday in Foxboro. The Patriots don't usually practice on Mondays, but practiced this Monday after having the weekend off following last Thursday night's loss to the New York Jets.
Sow has been sidelined since Aug. 25, so getting him out for practice is a huge step. But as he tends to do with injured players, head coach Jerod Mayo said that how Sow feels on Tuesday will give a better indication of his recovery.
"He'll be out there today, hopefully moving around a little bit," Mayo said of Sow during his Monday morning press conference at Gillette Stadium. "We'll see how he responds the next day."
The New England offensive line has been a mess this season, with quarterbacks being sacked 11 times through the first three games. That's tied for the fifth-most in the NFL, with the Cleveland Browns leading the pack at 16 sacks allowed.
In Week 3's loss to the Jets, the Patriots allowed seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits. New England was on its third different starting left tackle in that came, with rookie Caedan Wallace taking over for the injured Vederian Lowe, who hurt his knee at the team's Week 2 loss to Seattle.
Mayo's Monday update on Lowe wasn't as promising as his Sow update.
"I wish I could sit here and give you a timeline, but I can't," Mayo said of Lowe's status. "He'll be out there, but I'm not sure how much he'll do."
While the Patriots could really use a starting caliber left tackle (which they seemingly don't have on the roster right now), just getting Sow back should help New England's offensive front at this point. It would give the Patriots a player who had success on the line last season and it would bump Michael Jordan -- who was signed off the practice squad -- into a depth role.
The Pats will need steady play out of their offensive line on Sunday against the likes of San Francisco's Nick Bosa (two sacks in 2024 after logging 10.5 last season) and Javon Hargrave (seven sacks last season, one so far this season).
Mayo also said that receiver Kendrick Bourne, who started the season on PUP after tearing his ACL last October, continues to make "great" progress in his recovery.
"He's running fast, looks good in his routes," Mayo said of Bourne. "When he's ready to be out there, he'll be out there."
Mayo wants the Patriots to move on from Thursday night's debacle
The Patriots didn't do anything well in their 24-3 loss to New York last week, but Mayo doesn't want them to dwell on that performance. He said that Monday's bonus practice would focus on getting back to the fundamentals, and would really focus on the Patriots themselves.
"It has nothing do do with anyone else. It has everything to do with self-scouting and really just working on things that continue to show up on a game after game basis," said Mayo, though he did admit that some elements of the 49ers would be worked into Monday's practice.
The team reviewed their loss to the Jets last week, and Mayo wants it out of their heads now that Week 4 has arrived.
"I always tell the guys, 'Win, lose, or draw, we have to be ready to change the page,'" said Mayo. "In the NFL, and especially early in the season, t's so up and down. No one really knows who's good or who's bad. Even when the schedule releases come out, just because you were good the past year doesn't mean you're going to be good this year. And the same thing, just because you were bad last year doesn't mean you're going to be bad this year.
"So for me it's always been about just changing the page and moving onto the next one," added Mayo.
We'll get you ready for Sunday's Patriots-49ers game with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. on WBZ and streaming online at CBS Boston. After the game, switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!