The question of who will be calling offensive plays for the Mac Jones-led Patriots in 2022 is probably the biggest story in New England as training camp opens this week in Foxborough, arguably one of the biggest questions in the entire NFL this summer.
Maybe it will be special teams expert and now first-year quarterbacks coach Joe Judge. Maybe it will be former defensive coordinator-turned-offensive line coach Matt Patricia. Maybe it will be Bill Belichick himself.
After all, all three played a notable part in the process during OTA and mini-camp practices this spring, the first on-field workouts since former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left to become the head coach of the Raiders this winter.
During his first Zoom session with reporters prior to Wednesday’s opening of training camp, Belichick once again deflected any specificity in terms of who will be calling plays for Jones and Co. this fall or when he might even make it clear to his players who will be calling plays. In doing so, he put the onus on himself.
“Look, I’m the head coach. Ultimately I’m responsible for everything,” Belichick said. “So we’ll just leave it at that. That’s what it is.”
One thing Belichick did make quite clear once again is that he has plenty of confidence in the abilities of Judge and Patricia as they’ve taken on very new roles for New England this season.
“I think I’ve said many times I think Matt and Joe are two outstanding coaches in every sense of the word. Whatever those duties entail they’re very good, exceptional at the entire gamut,” Belichick told reporters on Zoom. “So, I’m glad we have both of them. They do a good job.”
As the Patriots open training camp, the team’s roster shows that New England will not have a coordinator in a titular sense on either offense or defense, even though it became apparent in recent years that linebackers coach Steve Belichick calls the plays on defense. Belichick was asked what the benefits were of the non-traditional, coordinator-free hierarchy on his staff of assistants.
“We’re not really big on titles and all that,” Belichick said a few minutes after he’d emphasized his own title and role. “I think everybody…it’s important that we all work together and create a good final product. That’s what we’re going to try to do. That’s what we’ve always done.”
Indeed, the Patriots have gone without coordinators on both sides of the ball many times in Belichick’s two-plus decades in New England. But the team has never gone with such a unique, curious setup as is the case on the offense this fall with Judge and Patricia taking over key roles on the offense with little-to-no experience in that area.
But in the end, it’s Belichick who is “responsible” for the success or failure of Jones and the offense in New England in 2022. Because that’s the way he wants it, and as the head coach that’s certainly his prerogative.