FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots’ run defense has some problems to address as it heads into an extended week to prepare for Matt Forte and the Chicago Bears in Week 8.

New England (5-2), playing its first game since Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jerod Mayo was lost for the season with a torn patella in his right knee, allowed the New York Jets (1-6) to churn out 218 yards on 43 carries in the Patriots’ white-knuckle 27-25 win Thursday night in Foxborough.

The Patriots entered the meeting with the league’s No. 4 run defense. The Chris Ivory-led Jets performance marked the second time this season New England allowed more than 200 yards on the ground, with the Chiefs notching 2007 yards in Week 4. The Dolphins just missed the mark with 191 yards on opening day.

Coach Bill Belichick’s team hasn’t allowed more than one 200-yard rushing game in a season since 2004 and has allowed more than two in a season just once in his tenure as head coach in New England.

Sure the loss of Mayo is a part of the issue. But that’s not the only problem.

“We have to coach better, we have to play better – all the things that you said, yeah,” Belichick said when asked if it was a problem getting off blocks, tackling or a combination of other factors. “I don’t think it was any one thing, any one player, any one play, any one scheme. It was just a combination of things. We just didn’t do things well. Sometimes it was technique stuff. We have to coach better; all of it. Put it on me.”

Dont’a Hightower, who returned after missing two games with a knee injury to take over play-calling and green dot duties for the Patriots defense against the Jets, thought the problem had to do with communication and guys simply doing their jobs.

“There were a couple (miscommunications) but maybe a handful of those were maybe blitzes that they thought were coming from an opposite direction which would cause us to lose the edge on certain plays,” Hightower said after watching the game tape. “Some guys not getting into the right gap and that creating a play. Communication is something that we are really going to have to pick up and that’s one thing that Mayo did was communicate with everybody.

“That’s something that me and Jamie (Collins) are going to have to take more ownership of and we are going to get that down pat.”

There were also issues with tackling, with Ivory getting plenty of yards after contact, and Hightower said that’s just a case of guys who have be playing football all their lives taking care of business.

“To be honest, a lot of us have been playing football for a long time,” Hightower said. “When it comes down to it, there are a lot of great runners and Chris Ivory is one of the better runners — a yards-after-contact type of runner — but I feel like it’s more of a mentality thing.

“There’s definitely a mindset we have to have to go out just to make our job a little easier, stopping guys for a 2- or 3-yard gain instead of letting those guys get a 7-yard run that turns into a 15-yard gain. That’s definitely just a mindset we are going to have to correct.”

Whether it’s learning to play without Mayo, tackling better, finding better run fits or some combination of a wide variety of factors the Patriots know they need to tighten up their run defense moving forward or it could be a long season on that side of the ball.

“That’s the one thing that I’m disappointed in,” defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said of the run defense. “We will fix it, we always do and hopefully we can get this thing rolling consistently.”

REPORT CARD VS. JETS

PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus – With the heavy rains calming down prior to kickoff Thursday night against the Jets, New England was able to attack a suspect New York secondary. With lead back Stevan Ridley place don IR, New England ran just five times in the first half as Tom Brady threw 22 passes despite the fact that the Patriots had a pair of three-and-outs.

The air game jumpstarted a quick-strike, four-play touchdown drive to open the game as Brady hit Brandon LaFell for 24 yards and then a play later found Shane Vereen wide open for a 46-yard score. It wasn’t always easy, and New York picked up the pressure against the Patriots’ suspect offensive line in the second half, but Brady would finish the night completing 20 of 37 passes for 261 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 103.5 passer rating.

Vereen led the way with five catches for 71 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Danny Amendola made a great, twisting 19-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that turned out to be the game-winning score. It wasn’t the most efficient performance, but it was good enough to key the win.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C – Ridley landed on IR the day of the game and Jonas Gray was promoted from the practice squad. But going against a strong Jets front, behind a once-again new look offensive line and with a clear plan to pass the ball, the rushing attack was an afterthought. The final numbers totaled 15 carries for 63 yards. But 17 of those yards came on one Vereen run and another 8 on a Julian Edelman end-around on third-and-short. It wasn’t a great day on the ground against a pretty stout front, but it was never intended to be.

PASS DEFENSE: C – New England threw both man and zone looks at Geno Smith with varying levels of success. The Patriots didn’t get consistent pressure on the young passer and he responded by completing 20 of 34 passes for 226 yards with one score and, most important, no interceptions, for an 88.6 passer rating. Smith spread the ball to eight different targets. Tight end Jeff Cumberland caught the only touchdown, and Jace Amaro was open on what could have been a game-tying two-point conversation.

Brandon Browner saw his first action of the season and earned a pair of holding penalties while also looking out of shape. A pass defense is going to be at a disadvantage given New England’s struggles in rush defense, but the back end certainly has its issues to work on moving forward.

RUSH DEFENSE: F – The Jets wanted to run. The Patriots were playing their first game without Pro Bowl middle linebacker and play-caller Jerod Mayo. It was a bad combination as New York dominated on the ground to the tune of 218 yards on 43 attempts for a 5.1-yard average.

Chris Ivory led the way with 21 for 107 and a touchdown. Chris Johnson added 13 for 61. Every Jets ballcarrier averaged 4.7 yards or better. New England had missed tackles, bad schemes and communication issues at times. It was a team-wide problem trying to stop the run and can’t all be rationalized as simply being about Mayo’s absence. The Patriots’ depth at both linebacker and defensive line is being tested right now. But so, too, is the simple talent and tackling on the defensive front. And it wasn’t good at all against the Jets.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A – The two biggest plays of the night in the kicking game went the Patriots’ way and keyed the victory. The most obvious was Chris Jones’ block of Nick Folk’s 58-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. The other was Amendola’s recovery, after the ball bounced around a bit, of New York’s onside kick attempt trailing 27-25 with 2:30 to play. Those two plays would have earned the Patriots a solid special teams grade, but the rest was solid as well.

Stephen Gostkowski hit his two field-goal attempts (39 and 36 yards) and hit three of his five kickoffs for touchbacks. Ryan Allen notched a 44.8-yard net on his five punts, including a pair inside the 20. Amendola also was solid on kickoff returns and appeared on the verge of a potential big play, averaging 26.3 on four chances. New England made the big plays and the small ones in the kicking game.

COACHING: C – On a short week, Bill Belichick and his staff did what was apparently enough to get the victory. But there was plenty to question in the game plan. New England used a lot of nickel looks – some with three safeties others with three corners – early on as the Jets ran with alarming success. Overall there was never an answer for New York’s ground game.

Offensively once again the staff decided to rotate backup Marcus Cannon at both left and right tackle in the second half, leading to increased pressure on the passer. Play-calling also had a few questions, including an overly cautious three consecutive running plays leading to a punt after New York’s onside kick attempt late in the fourth quarter. Despite lacking its best running back and a history of being aggressive in similar situations to put the game away, New England played it conservative and gave the Jets another chance to pull off the road upset. Not the best week for Belichick and his staff.