Bill Belichick continues to grunt his way through questions about the configuration of his coaching staff. His secrecy is all about covering up how the Patriots will operate, but not for the sake of disguising their scheme from opponents.
It’s all about covering for himself.
On Monday, Belichick fielded multiple questions about who will handle play-calling responsibilities and who will coach certain positions. Per usual, he deflected with searing disdain, as if asking about who’s working everyday with Mac Jones is akin to prodding him for a New Year’s resolution.
“What plays are we calling? Minicamp plays?,” Belichick said. “We’re going to coach the team, coach the players, get them ready to go. We’re going to game plan when we have to game plan, play calls, do all the things we need to do to compete in games. Right now, we’re months away from that.”
He was also existential about the matter. “I’ve called them and I haven’t called them,” he said of play-calling. “Other people have called them and haven’t called them. We’ll see.”
To call plays, or not to call plays. That is the question.
It’s one of the most significant ones facing the Patriots.
Belichick tries to downplay Josh McDaniels’ departure with barely audible utterances about how the Patriots have dealt with coaching changes before. That’s true, except there’s one big difference between now and then: the Patriots had Tom Brady.
Now, they have a quarterback entering his crucial sophomore season.
One of the holy grails in sports is a talented quarterback on his rookie deal. That is the ultimate advantage in the NFL, because it allows teams to spread their cap money elsewhere. These years must be maximized.
Yet, Belichick is allowing Joe Judge, who infamously called a QB sneak on 3rd-and-8, to mentor Jones through this critical period.
That’s negligible behavior, but without official titles on the staff, Belichick can deny reality. As he’s said, every coach can work with every position. Some call plays, and some of them don’t.
It is what it is.
For now, it seems like Belichick is overseeing everything on offense. NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran pointed out Belichick watched the bulk of offensive drills Monday, and then took over play-calling duties during the squad’s full 11-on-11 workout.
At 70 years old, Belichick appears to be doing more than ever. That indicates he might be as uncomfortable with Judge and Matt Patricia taking control of the offense as everybody else.
But he wouldn’t dare tell us about it.
