It’s a hot, sunny, late-July day and finally football is officially back in New England!
The Patriots open training camp 2022 on Wednesday morning on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.
For the first time since last January’s demoralizing playoff loss in Buffalo, fans will be get a look at their favorite football team. And that football team will begin work toward a return to Super Wild Card Weekend or even more lofty goals.
It’s summertime practice action, meaning hope and optimism abound not just in Patriot Nation but across the entire NFL. Every team seemingly has every reason to believe that this year is their year!
With that in mind, here’s a look at five focal points fans and media alike will be keeping their eyes on not just on the first day of training camp in Foxborough but throughout the summer heading toward the Sept. 11 regular season opener against the Dolphins in Miami.
Mac’ development and maturation: Bill Belichick used part of his pre-training camp Zoom session to serve as Mac Jones’ hype man, declaring that his second-year quarterback has already made a “dramatic improvement” and “tremendous strides” in his development. Whereas Jones spent last summer beating out veteran Cam Newton in a competition, this year he’ll be given his say in how the offense is built around him heading into his sophomore campaign. Jones already showed more energy and leadership in spring workouts. The Patriots’ are clearly his team. Jones is the franchise QB New England needed post-Tom Brady. His development and growth will be the team’s development and growth. All eyeballs will be on Jones to see just how good he can be this year and moving forward, as that will key just how good the Patriots can be this year and moving forward.
Oh corner, where art thou?: Maybe the biggest non-Mac question facing the Patriots is the cornerback position. J.C. Jackson is long gone, with Stephon Gilmore an even more distant memory. The restocking of the depth chart included Malcolm Butler coming out of retirement, Terrance Mitchell bringing his journeyman career to New England and adding draft picks Marcus Jones and Jack Jones. Based on spring action the 32-year-old Butler will get a shot to return to the starting job he held on his first tour through New England. Jack Jones popped in shorts-and-t-shirt action in the spring to create some buzz. But the reality is the cornerback position is wide open, something the defensive coaches hope won’t be true of opposing receivers this fall.
Keeping track of coaches: Usually the focus is on the players in training camp as they battle for roster spots and roles. And that will certainly be true this summer, but more attention than ever will be on what various coaches are doing on the fields on a daily basis. Belichick opened camp by saying that ultimately as the head coach he is “responsible” for the offensive play-calling this fall. He also expressed great faith and respect for Joe Judge and Matt Patricia, longtime assistants who are working in very much new roles as quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach, respectively. The media spent the spring watching Judge, Patricia and Belichick himself lead the offensive huddle at various times. Fans, at least the more focused fans, will be doing the same this summer. Who’s calling plays? Who’s talking to Mac? What is Belichick doing throughout practices? It’s all very much worth noting on a day-to-day basis.
Every rep matters!: While the first four days of training camp take place without pads, the reality is that even in that environment players are being assessed to some degree. New England has a roster that lacks much truly elite talent and has some key veterans who may be in their final seasons with the team. As such jobs and roles are up for grabs, both for this year and the future. The fight for the back end of the roster could be heated and come down to the cutdown wire. While no one play or practice will decide a guy’s future as he competes for his football life, it will be a part of the final decisions. Every rep, big play, mistake and positional grouping could lend insight into which guys will stick around, who may have bigger roles than expected and who might just be on the ready-to-burst roster bubble. This isn’t one of those stacked Patriots’ rosters of the dynasty years past where many spots were a given. There will be a lot of open competition on the practice fields this summer at cornerback, linebacker, defensive line, offensive line, wide receiver depth and running back depth at the very least.
What schemes to be?: Not only is there a lot up in the air in terms of personnel and coaches this summer, there may be some changes to the Patriots’ schemes on both sides of the ball. Offensively there’s a lot of talk about not just streamlining the scheme, but speculation that more zone running plays, more RPOs and other adjustments could be coming to augment Jones’ strengths. With Josh McDaniels having moved on from his offensive coordinator role, tweaks and adjustments to the offense only make sense under new leadership. While Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo remain in place leading the defense, personnel could dictate changes on that side of the ball as well. Depth at safety could put four of those guys on the field at times. Questions at cornerback mean zone coverage might remain the norm for a bit longer, even if it’s not the preferred way for Belichick. And the competition at linebacker might lead to some changes in the way that position is leaned on, especially if more youthful speed joins the mix rather than the bigger, slower linebackers that have been the norm in the past. The times, they are a changing in New England. And the schemes, at least to some degree, may be changing as well.