Jacoby Brissett takes the blame for Patriots' most glaring issue in Week 2 loss

One of the worst parts of the Patriots loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, besides the overtime penalty that NFL officials should never have made, was the abysmal inclusion of the wide receivers in the game plan.

Despite Hunter Henry recording the most yards in a game of his career, totaling eight receptions for 109 yards, the actual receivers accounted for just 19 yards of the remaining 40 on the day. It was good to see rookie Ja'Lynn Polk score the first touchdown of the game and his career, but he was essentially nonexistent the rest of the game.

To make matters even worse, the Patriots best receiver during the 2023 season, DeMario Douglas, didn't even register a single target, leaving him completely off the stat sheet after only recording two catches for 12 yards last week.

While the run game continues to be the offense's bread and butter, games can't be won only on the ground, making the lack of a passing game incredibly alarming. It's a point that was immediately brought up to Jacoby Brissett and Jerod Mayo post game, which brought out some interesting responses.

Jacoby Brissett takes ownership over the lack of wide receiver usage, but...

Because it had been a concern with Brissett throughout the preseason, and the main reason why many hoped to see Drake Maye named the starter, it's unsurprising to see the Patriots offense dealing with an issue in the passing game.

However, the near complete disregard for the entire receiving corps is a much more alarming development, which Brissett took responsibility for when talking to reporters after the loss.

It's great to hear a quarterback take ownership of his shortcomings. It wasn't a better showing than last week, and it was actually worse, creating more concern over the state of the offense.

Besides the general worry about it all, the main focus continues to be on the lack of DeMario Douglas targets, especially since he is one of the team's best receivers. Reporters made this point to Mayo during his post-game availability, prompting Mayo to state a somewhat bland excuse for why the second-year player has been mostly unused.

The hope, of course, is that it's not just words, and we'll see it put into action. The head coach stated before the game that Polk would be more involved this week, which he was, but not much more. So, claiming they need to develop more for Douglas is good to hear, yet not reassuring.

The rest of the Patriots 2024 schedule is only going to get more difficult. They'll need to figure these things out, especially regarding the offensive line, if they want to add more wins to their season.

More Patriots news and analysis: