The way New England has structured its 2022 offensive staff is still a matter of intrigue.
It’s been reported that senior football advisor/offensive line coach Matt Patricia will be the team’s de facto offensive coordinator this season. He’s also reportedly been relaying the plays to quarterback Mac Jones’ headset during training camp practices.
But as Patricia put it, that doesn’t necessarily mean much given the structure of practice.
“It’s great this time of year because fortunately, all the plays are just scripted in a row and you just kind of read down through them from that standpoint,” Patricia said, via Zack Cox of NESN. “But what’s good is that we’re all sharing the responsibilities based on what periods we’re at in practice. So from that aspect of it, it’s structured, I would say.”
“Shared responsibilities” seemed to be a theme throughout Patricia’s media session, as head coach Bill Belichick and offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach Joe Judge also have significant roles in implementing the scheme.
“We all kind of handle — all of the coaches, all the way across the board — we all kind of work together. Coach Belichick obviously helps us a lot, too,” Patricia said. “It’s a big divide and conquer at some points where we have to just — we have a lot of work to get done through the course of the night, and everybody really understands what we have to do.”
Patricia noted that the team has split who’s responsible for meetings “so that it’s not always the same person up there all the time giving all the information.” But when games come and a key decision needs to be made, Belichick will likely step in.
“I think we have an established culture here where we understand there’s input that comes from across the board,” Patricia said. “Certainly, where there’s a hard decision that needs to be made, we’re lucky enough that our head coach here is involved in all aspects of the game and has an expertise above anybody else really, to be honest with you, in all those areas.
“So when we need a push in either direction, we really can rely on him, which is great to help us get through any of those sticky points.”
With six Super Bowl rings as a head coach, Belichick has earned the benefit of the doubt on the way New England has structured its 2022 offensive staff. But the approach is certainly unorthodox, particularly with a second-year quarterback.
