Unlike last year, takeaways are hard to come by

FOXBOROUGH — Last season, when the Patriots’ offense was unable to reach the end zone, it frequently got a boost from the defense.

In 2022, the Patriots scored a team-record seven defensive touchdowns, and had four straight games at the end of the regular season with a defensive score.

(It marked the first time a defense had scored touchdowns in four consecutive games since the 2002 Buccaneers.)

Safety Kyle Dugger became the first Patriot since 1970 to finish a season with three defensive touchdowns, with a pair of pick-6s (against the Raiders and Dolphins) and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown (against the Lions).

In addition, Dugger forced a fumble in a December win over the Cardinals that led to a Raekwon McMillan scoop-and-score. In the end, only two Patriots — wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and running back Rhamondre Stevenson — finished with more touchdowns than Dugger.

When Dugger and the rest of the Patriots’ defense weren’t scoring last year, they were forcing turnovers and giving the offense the occasional short field. The Patriots had 30 takeaways last season, tied for second in the NFL.

This year? New England has struggled to come up with takeaways.

Through five games, the Patriots have just one interception (Christian Gonzalez) and one fumble recovery (Marcus Jones); the two takeaways the fewest in the league. New England is minus-8 in turnover differential, trailing only Minnesota (minus-9).

“We haven’t gotten enough of them. But we don’t want guys to start trying to force the issue and start lacking in other areas,” said safety Jabrill Peppers. “We all know we need to generate more turnovers. That’s a big, big deal in winning and losing in this league. And we’re going to make the necessary corrections. They come in bunches, once they start.”

“You have to punch it out and get interceptions,” defensive lineman Lawrence Guy said when asked if there was a secret behind forcing turnovers. “You can do that, you can get turnovers. That’s just part of the game. Sometimes you can get them, sometimes you can’t. That’s just how it is.

“We work on [forcing takeaways] every single day, You can’t work on it more than we already do. I think we have as big an emphasis on it in practice every single day, every week, on getting turnovers. All we can do is do our assignments, and when those opportunities [are there], take advantage of those opportunities.”

With that in mind, the Patriots might be facing the right opponent on Sunday. The Raiders’ 11 turnovers (eight interceptions, three fumbles) trail only the Vikings’ 12. Old friend Jimmy Garoppolo has thrown seven picks in four games, including three in a 23-18 loss to the Steelers.

“We put the work in. We just have to take advantage of the opportunity,” Peppers said. “That’s really it.”

Support for Mills

Several defensive teammates were asked about Jalen Mills taking to social media Wednesday to express his feelings about playing just 10 snaps in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints.

“I’ve been in that frustration,” said Guy, who referenced several games where he only played a handful of snaps. “He works hard. He works hard every single day. If you ask a question in a meeting, he knows that answer.

“I understand certain situations are what they are, but the grind that man has, the passion he has, is amazing.

“He’s a competitor. We all are. Every snap we all want to be out there. That’s just the way this game goes,” said Jones. “You want guys who want to be out there and play with you.”

“We all work hard. We’re all competitive guys,” Peppers added. “We just want to help the team win.”

Practice report

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas, and Judon were the only players missing from the start of practice Thursday afternoon. Smith-Schuster and Douglas sustained concussions last Sunday, while Judon underwent elbow surgery after an injury earlier this month against the Cowboys . . . Some big names were added to the injury report on Thursday for both teams. For the Patriots, Dugger (foot) was among 13 players who were limited: defensive linemen Christian Barmore (knee), Trey Flowers (foot), and Davon Godchaux (ankle); offensive linemen Trent Brown (chest), Mike Onwenu (ankle), Riley Reiff (knee), and Cole Strange (knee); cornerbacks Jonathan Jones (ankle) and Shaun Wade (shoulder); linebacker Josh Uche (knee); wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (shoulder); and defensive back Cody Davis (knee) . . . For the Raiders, wide receiver Davante Adams (shoulder) and defensive end Maxx Crosby (knee) were among those listed as limited, while Meyers (wrist) was part of a group of five that were listed as full participants.