It’s no surprise that the Patriots lost an away game on short rest, thanks to their third left back and the absence of defender Ja’Whaun Bentley.

But it was a chance for the Patriots to make a statement: They would come prepared and not be overwhelmed by a better opponent.

Instead, the Patriots reverted to the team everyone expected them to be. The offense couldn’t generate big plays and only got on the board through penalties. Jacoby Brissett was repeatedly crushed and was lucky to leave the game on two feet. The defense was sloppy with tackling and had no plan to slow Aaron Rodgers. And the Patriots committed some bad penalties, including unnecessary roughness penalties on Jahlani Tavai and Joshua Uche.

The good vibes that were generated in Cincinnati two weeks ago have quickly dissipated. Now the Patriots are 1-2, unable to generate anything on offense, falling apart with injuries on defense and staring at 1-3 with a trip to San Francisco next. Mayo and the coaching staff looked like geniuses after Week 1, but the last two losses have shown they may not be miracle workers.

▪ The Patriots called Drake Maye into the game for his NFL debut with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter. His first snap nearly resulted in an interception, and on his third snap he ran and took a huge hit. Overall, he completed 4 of 8 passes for 22 yards, to go along with two sacks and two runs for 12 yards. That was enough to tell me he’s not ready to play, especially given the state of the offensive line and their lack of playmakers. At least he didn’t get hurt.

▪ It appeared the Patriots were more concerned with getting their wide receivers involved than they were with effectively moving the ball. The backstory is that DeMario Douglas complained about not getting targets after the Seahawks loss, and Mayo put pressure on Brissett this week to push the ball downfield and get it to his playmakers, aka wide receivers.

Alex Van Pelt’s play calling was completely out of control in the first half. The Patriots rushed for 355 yards in the first two games, and the Jets entered the game with the 24th-ranked run defense. So what do the Patriots do? They called 13 passes and just five runs in the first half.

Douglas got his touches — a team-high seven catches for 69 yards, plus one carry for nine yards. But the offense was completely ineffective as the Jets raced to a 14-0 lead. The Patriots gained just 40 yards on 18 plays in the first half, and won just four first downs, two by penalty. For the game, Brissett completed 12 of 18 passes for just 98 yards.

The Patriots should have run the ball with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson, and passed the ball to tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. Instead, they tried too hard to get the ball to their receivers (Ja’Lynn Polk also had two catches for 13 yards in the first half). And it resulted in their worst offensive performance of the season.

The Patriots need to stop listening to the fans and the media (and grumbling receivers) and get the ball to their best players, their running backs and tight ends.

▪ But Brissett may have learned a valuable lesson: Good things can happen when you throw deep. Brissett entered the game with just two deep passes all season, tied for the fewest in the NFL, with no completions. He didn’t throw much deep Thursday, but his one deep shot to Tyquan Thornton resulted in a 34-yard pass interference (on a ball Thornton had no chance to catch). Brissett may have to throw deep more often and hope for the best.

▪ Stevenson fumbled in the fourth quarter, his third in three games this season and the 10th of his career. He’s the Patriots’ best player on offense, so they can’t afford to lighten his load, but he needs to work on his ball security.

▪ The offensive line, which wasn’t great in the first two games, was a disaster on Thursday. Brissett was sacked five times and hit 12 times on 23 passing plays and was lucky not to get injured. The Patriots struggled to identify blitzes, leaving Brissett susceptible to several free shots. The Jets clearly had no respect for the Patriots’ receivers who won one-on-one battles, as they consistently blitzed on third down. Brissett even got crushed on passes he completed, such as a 22-play-action pass to Douglas in the third quarter.

Rookie Caedan Wallace made his first start at left tackle since high school, and it went about as poorly as expected. He was assessed three penalties: one for an illegal formation when he was lined up too far back, and two holding penalties on consecutive plays, one of which negated a big gain for Austin Hooper at the goal line.

▪ A very disappointing performance from the Patriots’ defense. They had no answers for Rodgers, who completed 27 of 35 passes (77 percent) for 281 yards and two touchdowns. They sacked him twice, but couldn’t keep him in the pocket or prevent him from making second-reaction plays.

And the Patriots were sloppy in their tackling. Raekwon McMillan missed a tackle in the backfield, allowing Braelon Allen to run for 11 yards. Jonathan Jones missed a tackle on a 28-yard catch to Allen Lazard on third down. Alex Austin also missed a tackle on Lazard on a bubble screen, allowing a 10-yard touchdown.

▪ One positive from the night: Christian Gonzalez played well again. Gonzalez shadowed Garrett Wilson all night, holding Wilson to five catches on nine targets for 33 yards. Wilson did get into the end zone with a short pass on the goal line, but Gonzalez more than held his own against one of the NFL’s best receivers.

Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].