Much has been made about the New England Patriots' offensive play-calling situation heading into the 2022 NFL season. With Josh McDaniels out of the picture, the team has leaned on a combination of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to handle the offensive duties.
As a result, the Patriots have streamlined their offense with a zone-run scheme similar to what Kyle Shanahan has made famous in the NFL. But does a simplified offense really help Mac Jones and the Patriots if the second-year quarterback lacks a consistent play-caller? After all, the Pats offense hasn't looked all that sharp throughout training camp.
The MMQB's Albert Breer joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Zolak and Bertrand" during Wednesday's practice to share his insight on the subject.
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"The belief here was the point of entry was just way too high for skill position players and they had to cast such a narrow net to bring guys in that it just wasn't gonna be feasible to do it anymore unless Tom Brady's your quarterback, and obviously he's not here," Breer said. "The offense became Tom's, it was bastardized in that way.
"And so I think that's the process they're going through more than anything else, is untangling the offense and making it simpler. The play-calling thing still confounds me, like I think that's hard when your quarterback might not be sure what voice he's going to hear on gameday. And I know that this thing might not look great at first, but I didn't see the trainwreck today that I heard about the last few weeks."
While Patricia and Judge split the work during New England's preseason opener last week vs. the New York Giants, Breer is hearing rumblings that head coach Bill Belichick could take over play-calling duties. In fact, Breer heard that Belichick called plays for the Patriots' two-minute offense during practice this week.
New England Patriots
"I know from Patriot-connected people there's at least some perception out there that Belichick could eventually wind up calling the plays," Breer said. "And, one thing I can tell you for sure having talked to Panthers people, is that in two-minute the last couple of days, Bill was calling the offense. It's one thing that they all noticed."
Belichick wants no part of the questions regarding his team's offensive play-calling situation, but he'll likely have to face more of them after Friday's preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium.