5 days Ago By Hayden Bird
By Hayden Bird While the Patriots weren’t able to come away with a win against the Rams on Sunday in 28-22 defeat, the game still offered a memorable sequence for offensive tackle Vederian Lowe. Lowe, 25, was the latest offensive lineman to spring a surprise on an unsuspecting defense. With the Patriots trailing in the fourth quarter, New England dialed up a special red zone play.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye found Lowe — lined up as an eligible receiver — for a four-yard touchdown pass: BIG MAN VEDERIAN LOWE TD. 📺: #LARvsNE on FOX 📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.
twitter.com/NoG7730Dq8 The 315-pound offensive tackle caught several passes in practice in the lead-up to Sunday, according to head coach Jerod Mayo. But when it came to the real thing, Lowe acknowledged it was unprecedented in his football career.
“I’ve never caught a touchdown ever, at any level of football that I’ve ever played,” he told reporters. “But it’s always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I always thought I could play tight end growing up, and I always thought I had fairly great hands.
I always talk stuff with the O-line saying, ‘I’ve got the best hands on the O-line.'” “I’ve been waiting for a moment like this, and I’m just glad when the play got called, everybody executed and we scored a touchdown.” The touchdown cut the Patriots’ deficit, but it wasn’t enough in the end as New England’s attempts at a comeback fell short.
As a microcosm of the Patriots’ team-wide up-and-down performance on Sunday, Lowe provided both a highlight and a lowlight. Along with his clutch fourth-quarter touchdown, Lowe was also guilty of committing a costly penalty in the second quarter. After what appeared to be 17-yard completion to Hunter Henry from Maye, Lowe was flagged for illegal formation.
The drive stalled as a result, ending with a Patriots punt. Lowe was asked if he had been told by officials about his placement in the formation. “I was warned previously — I believe twice — by the official, and I thought I was lining up correctly,” he admitted.
“Looking at the guard’s alignment and lining up on the guard’s alignment. What really sucks about that call is it came on a conversion, and I feel like that really killed the drive after that. I feel like it really hits as hard as it does for me because that’s such a simple fix, such an easy thing to fix.
We always harp on pre-snap penalties in our procedure and being sound in that to just give ourselves a chance. That really sucked to get a call like that. “Going forward I made sure it didn’t happen again, but it just really hurt getting that [penalty] on a conversion,” Lowe concluded.
Along with the penalty, he also allowed multiple pressure on Maye, representative of an ongoing issue with the Patriots’ pass protection. Still, Lowe has continued to feature for the Patriots offensive line amid struggles in 2024. Originally a sixth-round pick by the Vikings in 2022, he joined New England in 2023 via trade with Minnesota.
Hayden Bird Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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