FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Plenty is being made about the inability of New England quarterback Tom Brady and his wide receivers to get on the same page and create the kind of productive, diverse passing attack that is expected of the Patriots.

However, through three weeks, it is quite clear that pass protection and the consistent rush that Brady faced are major factor in the Patriots’ lackluster passing performances. The team is ranked 27th in the league in passing offense.

Brady was sacked seven times on his 121 drop-backs this fall, which is tied for 18th in sacks per pass play. He also was hurried and contacted more often that he would like, including a couple hard hits from Raiders rushers Khalil Mack and Justin Tuck in Sunday’s win over Oakland.

“Typically, the longer you have to throw, the better decision you’ll be able to make,” Brady said, stating the obvious.

While execution from key returning players such as left tackle Nate Solder and right tackle Sebastian Vollmer was poor at times, there are plenty of changes on the line that factor into the protection problems.

The team traded Pro Bowl left guard Logan Mankins at the end of August after failing to reach a restructured agreement on his contract. That hole in the line, after there already was some competition in terms of the center and right guard spots, has hurt.

Marcus Cannon, primarily a right tackle in his first three seasons, is struggling in his move to left guard. Second-year guard Jordan Devey, formerly of the practice squad, is struggling mightily on the right side, while the center position has seen Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell and rookie Bryan Stork all take reps.

One of Brady’s favorite outlets, tight end Rob Gronkowski, was eased back into his key role in the offense as he works back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Once he rounds into form, Brady will have more of a safety net when there are breakdowns in front of him.

“Rob has definitely made some plays for us, and we certainly think that will continue and hope that will continue,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

The group also is working under first-year line coach Dave DeGuglielmo after last winter’s retirement of long-time coach Dante Scarnecchia. While the changes led to plenty of problems up front, head coach Bill Belichick stands by his new assistant coach, saying the scheme and terminology remain the same.

“Dave is a pretty experienced coach,” Belichick said. “He’s been in a number of different systems.”

Belichick went on to say that while DeGuglielmo came into an established offensive system, the transition was smooth.

“It was kind of fine-tuning some things that we did relative to similar things that he’s done in the past,” Belichick said.

Belichick did, however, included the pass-protection problems with his team’s overall need for improvement — coming down to the five guys on any given play in front of Brady needing to do a better job.