It’s only two days into training camp, but boy do we need the Patriots to play a game.
Even a preseason contest would do the trick.
Heck, joint practice action might even be enough.
Because all the endless talk about the Patriots offensive coaching staff – from both proponents and critics alike – has simply grown stale.
Yes, there is every reason to question New England’s offensive coaching staff that’s replaced longtime, proven offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with some sort of amalgamation of minds led by Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, the former a career defensive expert and the latter a specialist in special teams.
Those questions have indeed been posed by many of us. The concerns raised throughout the bottomless pit of the internet, social media, talk radio and TV talking heads.
Hell, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has called it the “most concerning thing” in the NFL.
At this point, though, it’s all meaningless speculation and projection.
Equally as meaningless is the strong support that the curiously dubious coaching setup is getting, both from inside and outside the walls of Gillette Stadium.
Bill Belichick has every right to believe that Patricia and Judge are great coaches, maybe even capable of taking their careers in a completely different direction after each failed when given the chance to run a team on their own.
Mac Jones certainly can and maybe even should at this point love the “open conversation” that he proclaimed the Patriots offensive coaching to be at this very early point in the process. It’s great that that conversation between him, Patricia and Judge is taking place under the watchful eye and direction of arguably the greatest football coach of all time, certainly the GOAT of the current generation.
New England fans obviously want to buy what Belichick and Jones are selling, that just because things may look crazy, just because the New England staff has a structure that would be roundly mocked in 31 other NFL cities, doesn’t mean it won’t work at this critical juncture for the post-Tom Brady franchise.
Surely rising ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III is pushing the boundaries of the freedoms of his speech to declare that the unknowns of the coaching staff will actually be an advantage not only for the Patriots but for Jones’ evolution as a professional.
But even in these times of incredible inflation, talk is still very much cheap.
The players and coaches promoting the “streamlined” Patriots offense are simply spewing hot air at the same summertime rate as the doubters detailing how McDaniels’ departure could spell Year 2 disaster for Jones.
Thankfully at some point in the days, weeks and months ahead, there will be actual competitive football to assess. Jones will have to throw passes not against his own team’s suspect secondary in a controlled environment but rather against men wearing a different jersey who’ll be bringing bad intentions to the battle.
There will be a point to find out if New England can move the ball, score points and win games.
Until then, until there is actual evidence of what the Patriots offense is, what the play-calling situation leads to and whether Jones really still looks like an ascending star thanks to or in spite of what is going on around him, all we’re left with is the cacophony of divergent and basically baseless opinions.
For some, it’s easy to foresee Belichick pulling it all together successfully. And maybe he will.
For others, it’s almost impossible to see this leading to anything but disaster. And it might be.
It’s one of those polarizing debates that seem so prevalent in our world that doesn’t have a definitive answer. We’ve all seemingly chosen sides and dug our heels in. And for now, nothing is going to change that.
The time for all the debate to end, for some actual football to be added to the conversation, can’t come soon enough.
