New England wide receiver Pop Douglas had just two catches for 12 yards in a season-opening win over Cincinnati. Steven Senne/Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jerod Mayo says the New England Patriots are going to run the football Sunday until someone stops them.

What if Seattle loads the box and accomplishes the mission?

Then what?

“Then we turn into a pass team,” Mayo said with a smile.

In theory, that sounds good. But on game day, when push comes to shove and their lives depend on it, can the Patriots pull it off?

That’s what makes the Week 2 matchup so intriguing. The Bengals knew the Patriots were going to run the ball and couldn’t stop them.

The Seahawks might fall into the same trap if offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s offense is able to execute as well as it did in Cincinnati. But the Patriots can’t necessarily count on that. If the Seahawks manage to stymie Rhamondre Stevenson, then Van Pelt will have to shift to Plan B.

Then the question becomes whether or not Van Pelt has the horses to effectively morph into a team that can win passing the football.

Against the Bengals, Tyquan Thornton (2 catches, 27 yards), K.J. Osborn (3 catches, 21 yards), Pop Douglas (2 catches, 12 yards) and Ja’Lynn Polk (1 catch, 6 yards) combined for eight catches, 66 yards. That’s not what anyone would call a high-powered aerial offense.

Against the Bengals, however, they didn’t need an air show. They were happy to ride Stevenson (120 rushing yards).

It remains to be seen if the run-til-you-stop us plan can be a winning formula every week.

“I talk about mental agility and being able to really change, instead of being rigid,” Mayo said. “We can’t be rigid in the way we play. We can’t be rigid in the way that we think. Who knows? This week, Jacoby (Brissett) may throw for 300 yards or Rhamondre may run for 200 yards. I really don’t know.”

Van Pelt echoed those remarks a day later, adding that he was confident in the personnel he had to be able to morph into a different type of offense from one week to the next.

“I think that’s one of our identities as an offense when we talk about it being multiple and versatile,” Van Pelt said. “We always talk about putting ourselves in the best plays to make them successful, and the best situations to make them successful using their skillsets. I told the guys in the room we might run it 40 times this week and throw it 40 times the next week based on the defense.

“I’m very confident in our group. I think our skill group is a talented group. We don’t have any huge names outside of receiver, but we’ve got a bunch of guys that make good football plays. I feel real confident in those guys.”

As it is, Van Pelt didn’t show much or use everything in his playbook.

He even acknowledged that he wanted to incorporate a few more plays against the Bengals but didn’t have them on his call sheet for the game.

No doubt those unused plays, and perhaps a few others, will be at Van Pelt’s disposal for the Seahawks.

In the locker room Thursday, Osborn said the Patriots didn’t show their “best stuff,” but didn’t want to say how much of that would be pulled out of Van Pelt’s  bag of tricks against the Seahawks.

In Week 1, New England’s offense featured a lot of quarterback Jacoby Brissett handing off to running back Rhamondre Stevenson. The Patriots hope to use a similar approach against Seattle on Sunday, but say they will throw more if necessary. Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Brissett did air it out once to Thornton – an incomplete pass – to keep the defense honest. No doubt there will be more of that in the coming weeks.

“When you have a guy that’s fast like Tyquan, you want to utilize that speed, for one, and and take shots, get an opportunity for a big play,” Patriots receivers coach Tyler Hughes said Thursday. “It impacts everyone on the field. It opens up the underneath game. It makes the defense have to honor that so they can’t play so tight to the line of scrimmage or sit on routes quite as much. So his speed element brings a lot to the table.”

Polk and Douglas were pretty much untapped assets against Cincinnati. Polk only had one target but was open on several plays.

As for Douglas, the Patriots need to involve him more. He’s their most dynamic player and Van Pelt needs to get the football in his hands.

“He’s a guy we obviously want to utilize as the season goes on,” Hughes said. “He has a unique skillset … because of his quickness, and elusiveness and his IQ on the field, he’s a guy we’ll always try to make sure he’s the point of attack, so to speak.”

Whether or not Van Pelt unleashes the passing game in full force against the Seahawks remains to be seen. And if he does, the bigger question is how effective the group might be. Do they really want Brissett throwing the ball 40 times? Do they have the firepower to accomplish the mission? With an offensive line that’s still suspect in pass protection?

It sure doesn’t seem like it.

Eliot Wolf, the de facto general manager, certainly tried to land a top receiver (Calvin Ridley, Brandon Aiyuk) to help the cause only to strike out. Now it’s a matter of seeing if they can win games with what they have.

Osborn said the receivers would be pumped for whatever Van Pelt has in store for them.

“We knew against Cincy we were going to run the rock. And we executed it,” Osborn said. “But as (Van Pelt) says, whatever we have to do that week to win, that’s what we’re going to do. Whether it’s changing up personnel, run, pass, whatever … but obviously as receivers, when the game plan and focal point is to pass the ball, we’ll be excited and ready for it.”