Back in April, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said that the Patriots’ offensive coaching situation as they tried to replace Josh McDaniels was his biggest area of concern in the entire NFL.
Does he feel any better about it nearly five months later on the eve of Week 1? Just the opposite, in fact. Making his first weekly appearance of the season with Merloni, Fauria & Mego on Wednesday, Orlovsky explained why he’s actually even more concerned about New England’s offense now.
“There’s no question about it. It’s become more of a concern of mine, and it was about as big as it could be,” Orlovsky said. “I was really convicted about it in April, and after watching some of the performance in the preseason -- I think preseason football is as dumb as it’s ever been, but there’s still some clues or cues about what teams can or cannot be, especially when they have their first team in.
“And not only was I concerned about it in April, but I became more concerned about it because what in many ways has been the backbone of the offensive identity for New England for a long time, outside of Tom, was the offensive line. … That right now is missing. And you pair that with a question mark of who’s calling your plays, and that is an enormous issue.”
Orlovsky said he believes Bill Belichick is still a great head coach, but that he won’t be able to cover up for the lesser coaches under him and a roster that isn’t among the NFL’s most talented.
“As great as Bill Belichick is,” he said, “to sit here and think that this defense that is deprived of high-end talent right now, and then this offense that doesn’t really have a punch and now has lost its secret sauce and play-caller, and this offensive line looks to be in shambles, to think that a head coach is going to cover all that up … I’m not gonna sit here and say that. Absolutely not.”
Similarly, Orlovsky is still pretty high on Mac Jones as a quarterback, but thinks there is too much working against him this year. That said, he believes Jones’ intelligence and work ethic will prevent him from taking a step back in his second season.
“It’s really difficult to regress as a quarterback when you have the intellect and work ethic of Mac Jones,” Orlovsky said. “Usually regression comes from, as far as the individual player, not handling the necessary things off the field or you lack maturity in certain aspects. So for the individual to regress, it doesn’t marry everything you hear about and know about Mac Jones. … I don’t think you’re gonna see individual regression as far as can he or can’t he. I think you’ll see regression in, are we being productive in the way the expectations are?”
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