WHICH PATRIOTS ARE UNDER
It starts at the top
Robert Kraft, speaking from the league meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday, made his position on the Patriots’ upcoming season pretty clear.
He expects them to contend. There was no gray area in his message.
The Patriots owner, perhaps trying to placate the fan base, said he doesn’t believe Bill Belichick’s current offseason strategy means the team is in line for a slow, methodical rebuild. He believes the pieces are in place to move forward, not backward, from the team’s oneand-done playoff exit last year. In fact, he said he was “bothered” by not winning a playoff game the past three seasons.
Let’s just say satisfying Kraft’s expectations, especially with the Patriots being somewhat passive in free agency while their AFC competition improved, is going to be a tall order. And that’s even accounting for the talent they’ll add in the draft, and landing DeVante Parker in a trade from the Dolphins on Saturday in a rare deal between AFC East rivals.
With that as a backdrop, who’s under the most pressure to produce in 2022? Which Patriots need to deliver the most?
Here’s the list, which starts at the top.
Bill Belichick
The fact Belichick hasn’t gone on another spending spree in free agency this year isn’t exactly a shock. What’s surprising is not improving a defense that didn’t force the Bills to punt the last two times they met.
Even more surprising is not having an experienced offensive mind and quarterback-whisperer working with Mac Jones.
Belichick indicated during the league meetings that managing Jones and handling the offense would fall primarily on him, Joe Judge and Matt Patricia. In other words, there’s no legitimate replacement for Josh McDaniels, who did a masterful job working with the rookie quarterback last season.
So look no further than Belichick if the offense doesn’t grow, and Jones doesn’t progress. Look to Belichick if Jones regresses without an actual “offensive” coach to develop the offense around him.
With regard to the latter,
Belichick acknowledged during his press session at the league meetings that he was counting on several players who signed big contracts last year, along with Jones, to improve with another year in the system. That’s where the primary growth is going to come from. Adding Parker, a No. 1 receiver, should help, too. That’s a great trade for the Patriots.
“I think some of the players we have on the roster will hopefully take a step up, but we’ll see,” he said. “And we’ll have other players. They’ll be new players here. We’ll see what happens with them.”
That sounds like a bit of a roll of the dice for Belichick, especially since this isn’t a season to tread water in the owner’s mind. But Kraft also said he was expecting more from the assets he spent significant money on last season. He’s expecting them to deliver.
So now’s the time. And it starts with Belichick making it happen. Most of the pressure is squarely in his lap.
Some feel Kraft put Belichick on notice, and it’s a make-or-break year for the head coach. That’s debatable. At this stage, it’s tough imagining Kraft parting ways with arguably the greatest coach of all time. And yet, it seems pretty clear there needs to be improvement.
It falls back on Belichick whether the 2022 Patriots contend, or if they fall further down the AFC food chain.
Matt Patricia & Joe Judge
What we know for sure is that Patricia and Judge, two former head coaches who failed outside of New England and have returned to the nest, will be working with the offense.
Their roles have yet to be defined, although Patricia is supposedly going to work with the offensive line, among other things, while Judge will coach the quarterbacks.
On Tuesday, Kraft said Belichick had a “unique way” of doing things, and it “doesn’t sometimes look straight in line to our fans or to myself.” But, he added, whatever Belichick does seems to work out.
Those remarks seemed aimed at this curious coaching alignment on offense, with Jones now having Judge and Patricia attached to his hip.
The fact they are in the mix on offense with little to no experience coaching quarterbacks, or little background on offense, puts them squarely in the crosshairs.
“I think a good coach is a good coach, and Matt’s a great coach. Joe’s a great coach,” said Belichick, when asked about coaches handling areas on the staff outside of their perceived realm. “They’ll help us no matter what position they coach.”
All eyes will be on Patricia and
Judge to see if Belichick backing the duo will resonate in 2022.
Mac Jones
Kraft said he’s a “big fan” of Jones. He also said he expects his quarterback to improve on his rookie season.
“I think these young quarterbacks, the good ones in the second year, have usually grown a great deal,” said Kraft.
Hitting the next level and making that Year 2 leap is going to be a tough task for Jones, especially after losing McDaniels and having a new set of coaches who don’t have much experience handling a quarterback.
Adding a legitimate No. 1 receiver in Parker will help the cause, but it’s on Jones to deliver in a now packed AFC East.
It’s good that he’ll have Trent Brown once again protecting him at right tackle. The Pats, however, still have to replace Ted Karras, who left in free agency for Cincinnati.
Belichick seems to have faith that Jones is good enough and smart enough to excel without the benefit of having a bonafide offensive play caller.
Belichick assured the media that Jones would get proper coaching, starting with him taking a more active role in the offense.
“I’m sure everybody will have a role in it,” he said. “I’ll work with (Jones) like I have before. Matt,