While there’s no doubt that the Patriots’ offense has been getting off to a hot start in recent games, a troubling trend has popped up: they aren’t scoring in the third quarter.

Of the 290 total points New England has scored in its first 10 games, only 39 have come in the third quarter, which may be a sign that opponents are making halftime adjustments and the Pats just aren’t making their own changes quickly enough.

New England was scoreless in the third quarter against both the Colts and Jets, and was scoreless for the second half and overtime in its loss to Denver.

Bill Belichick, speaking on a conference call Tuesday afternoon, did not shed much light on what’s happening with the Patriots’ offense, but acknowledged that the statistics show there may be a problem.

“I think after you play as many games as we have that there’s some merit to the numbers that are up there,” he said. “I don’t think that tells the whole story and I don’t think that tells a weekly story. But from a standpoint of production, what you produce, that’s what you’ve produced.

“We want to try to produce more in every area, whether it’s third down, red area, second half, punt returns, net punting…everything. We want to try to get it to the highest level we possibly can.”

It isn’t as if the offense isn’t trying to put points on the board every time out, Belichick said.

“Every time we send our team out onto the field we want to see a productive series, whether it’s offense, defense or the plays when we send the special teams unit out there. That’s why they’re being sent on the field, is to be productive. We’ll keep working hard to get as much production as we can out of each unit and out of our entire football team. That’s what we’re here for, that’s what our job is. We want to be productive every time we go out on the field.”

For what it’s worth, the Patriots’ defense has been strong in the third quarter, allowing 37 total points in that frame.

Kudos for LeVoir

Reserve tackle Mark LeVoir — who gained attention for his crushing block on Jets’ defensive back Donald Strickland on Sunday — was acknowledged for his versatility by Pats’ personnel chief Nick Caserio.

“When we looked at Mark last preseason, he played both right and left tackle for the Rams. There’s something to be said for that versatility,” Caserio said. “With Mark having that versatility, there’s value to your club, so in the event that the left tackle goes down, you can plug him in there, or if the right tackle goes down (he can fill in). Mark has come in and when he’s been called upon … he went in and performed well.”

LeVoir stepped in at left tackle for a few series against New York when Sebastian Vollmer was shaken up, and he has also been used as a third tackle in certain packages.

Strickland called LeVoir’s great open-field hit on him dirty and vowed retaliation.

Bills sign Simmons

On Tuesday, the Bills signed Kendall Simmons to shore up a battered offensive line. The veteran right guard, who was a stalwart on the Steelers’ line before suffering a ruptured Achilles’ in game four last season, was signed by the Patriots at the start of the season. However, he was inactive for all but one game and was released earlier this month to make room for defensive back Kyle Arrington on the 53-man roster.