In the midst of a five-game losing streak, the New England Patriots cross the pond to London to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.

With Drake Maye looking for his first win as a starter, let’s clear this week’s notebook of the week Sunday Patriots Notes.

1. Maye’s Mental Game: To the naked eye, Drake Maye’s first career in the NFL looked similar to his time at North Carolina. Deep touchdowns, first-down scrambles, off-script plays, etc. etc. etc.

But for those who worked closely with Maye behind the scenes during training camp and the start of the regular season, the rookie is a different quarterback. “Completely different,” said his offensive coordinator.

A lot of that has to do with Maye’s mental work, which continues to shine on the practice and playing field.

“We had a period (Wednesday), another fast start period against our defense, good-on-good in the red zone,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “I didn’t give him an answer to the zero-blitz look the defense presented and he got himself out of trouble with the right protection adjustment and the route change and threw a touchdown.

“So for me – wow. He can get in there and protect himself. He knows which calls to make. I don’t know if we could have done that in Week 1.”

Maye started the season as a backup and was able to observe veteran Jacoby Brissett both on and off the field through the first five weeks of the season. That gave the 22-year-old time to further develop the mental side of his game – which was an underrated quality of his by many draft experts to begin with.

When Maye took the field last Sunday, one area of ​​growth in particular stood out.

“I think the most important thing is the run checks and the different looks that put us in the best run. I think that’s the biggest thing. Seeing Jacoby do it, watching him do it and bringing in guys who block the right guys, I feel like that’s something I didn’t really look at until I watched the film. I feel like in the run game I mostly did everything that was asked and executed correctly.

“So I think that was the biggest sigh of relief when I saw all those different run looks under center, saw it and got the guys blocked. So I just have to keep doing that. I think the passing game, I feel like I saw it well, just needed to make some better throws.

Since Maye’s arrival in April, coaches and teammates have been impressed with his work in the classroom. Van Pelt has seen no change in the rookie’s approach and has been named the starter, which may have played a big role as Maye threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns in his starting debut.

“He is very natural. He is a natural leader. He can study well,” says Van Pelt. “Very intelligent guy who can ask great questions in the meeting rooms. He is everything you want in a young quarterback. I think sitting and watching Jacoby prepare over the first five weeks was a big part of that, seeing how the quarterback room functions at the professional level, the questions that need to be asked, the concerns, the comments throughout the week . I think this helped him build his inventory of how to go through meetings and ask the questions he needs answered.

“But very impressive with his approach. He studies hard at night, you can see that. When you call a new play during a Wednesday practice, he’s already digested the verbiage and can easily spit it out, so I know he’s putting in the work. During the course of the evening you will receive text messages about certain looks: ‘What does this mean if they do this?’ or ‘What should I do in this look?’ So I know he puts time into it.”

2. Youthful Energy: Alex Van Pelt is in his 29th season in the NFL as a player or coach. So while the coordinator is impressed with Maye’s work ethic, he often has to remind himself that the rookie is only 22 years old.

“Absolutely, he is a young puppy,” Van Pelt responded when asked whether Maye brings youthful energy. “My daughters are 22 and 25, so I have to put that into perspective. He’s still young. He does have that youthfulness. But again, from a professional approach, he does it the right way to prepare himself every week.”

3. International success: The Patriots will play their fifth international game this week, which will rank fourth in the NFL. New England is currently 3-1 in the NFL’s International Series, with the lone loss coming to the Colts in Germany last year.

In the Patriots’ two previous games in London, they have allowed just one touchdown and scored more than 30 points in each of those games.

4. London Support: Standing inside Winston Churchill’s old boarding school in London on Friday, both head coach Jerod Mayo and quarterback Drake Maye were asked why NFL fans in Britain should follow and support the Patriots.

“One thing I will say is that we are hitting the reset button and looking forward to building something special,” Mayo responded. “Building the next dynasty, and that obviously starts with design and development, but also through freedom of choice. We hope to get back to the top here soon.”

Maye took a different path with his answer.

“First of all, I think it comes from the team name, New England. I think it’s easy for British fans to be attracted to that,” he said. “Our colors are quite sweet; they represent many different things. From then on, there was just excitement for the team. I think we’re getting there, and we’ve got a lot of things to look forward to, a lot of bright futures ahead. Shout out to all the fans here who are already Patriot fans and look forward to getting more.

5. 30 points: Speaking of 30 points, the Patriots have the longest streak in the NFL as they have gone 34 games without scoring 30+ points. That dates back to Bailey Zappe’s second career start against the Browns on Oct. 16, 2022, where the Patriots scored 38 points.

London could be a good time for New England to snap their streak, as the Jaguars’ struggling defense allowed 35 points to fellow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams last week.

“When I looked at Caleb, he had a big win over the Jags here and just watching – I think Caleb made some plays along the way. The biggest thing about him was I thought he made some nice throws,” Maye said Friday. “That’s the thing about last week is that I feel like I had a few throws that I wanted back.

“But as always, I think it’s pretty cool to watch the Texans, how they handle Caleb and now watch the Jags, what they did against rookie quarterbacks. It’s good for me to see what they do.”

6. Quick Start: The Patriots have faced first-quarter deficits in each of their last four games, leading them to emphasize a quicker start in practice this week. That included a “fast start period” to begin practicing top offense versus top defense right out of the gate.

One idea to solve this problem might be to put the offense on the field first when you get the chance, as New England has held off the four times they’ve had the pick this season.

7. Polk’s Struggle: After last Sunday’s game, Jerod Mayo noted that rookie Ja’Lynn Polk, who had a few drops, needed to get over the “mental hump.” Speaking to MassLive’s Mark Daniels this week, the rookie said he was “not suffering from (any) mental issues” and was “limited” in what he can do at the moment.

Although only Polk knows what he means by limited, it may be a good assumption to point out his role. Despite primarily playing the Z/slot role in college, Polk was used heavily at the X to start the season.

“We’re trying to find the best guys to use right now, the three guys that work best together. That combination, just like the O-line, can change from week to week, also positionally,” Van Pelt said on Thursday. “I thought he could give us the best chance at the X to win one-on-one matchups, especially the 3-on-1 sets when you’re isolated on the weak side. But he can also do great things in the slot. Also the Z.

“He’s a very smart guy. He can play in multiple positions. So for us as a staff it’s trying to find the pieces where these work best together and how we can use those guys with their skills in mind.

Additionally, Van Pelt noted that the offense has put a lot on Polk’s plate, which can be difficult for any rookie. New England can try to lighten the load on the receiver, but still have full confidence that he will get over the mental hurdle.

“Success always takes you past that. He had a few drops in the game, which was not typical for him,” said Van Pelt. “He’s a rookie. They’re all young boys now. I just have to figure out a way to overcome that, get back to focusing on what he does best, which is a lot of things.

“But he’s going to make plays for us as the year goes on, there’s no doubt about that.”

8. Layden’s Return: After starting the first four games of the season, rookie guard Layden Robinson returned to the bench in Week 5 before landing on the inactive list last week. With injuries elsewhere on the offensive line, Robinson will now return to the starting lineup this weekend.

“The first thing I would say is that Layden is one of the hardest practicing guys on the team. He always shows tremendous commitment,” Mayo said. “Sometimes you hit a wall and he went through that wall and he’s playing tomorrow. He is a very strong player and I am also looking forward to his future.”

That sets the stage for a starting offensive line of: LT Trey Jacobs – LG Michael Jordan – C Ben Brown – RG Layden Robinson – RT Mike Onwenu – which will be New England’s seventh offensive combination in as many weeks.

9. Lefty Center: Elsewhere along the offensive line, New England added center depth in Lecitus Smith following the release of Nick Leverett. Smith, who came from the Packers practice squad and will serve as the top backup this week, is unique as a left-handed snapper.

“He has an advantage. Again, we look at the practice squad as a place where we want to develop those players. Hopefully one day they will be starters, or rotation players,” Mayo said of Smith. “I did learn left-handed snappers, it’s a little different. I never knew that, which I found interesting. This guy definitely has the potential to be a good player for us.”

10. Preparing for the coming week: Despite being across the pond, the Patriots will not have a bye week upon their return to the United States. They will return to work for a normal week of practices Wednesday through Friday as they prepare to welcome Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and the New York Jets to Foxboro in Week 8.