New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick responded in riddles rather than answers during his meeting with the media on Monday after the first day of organized team activities on the practice field at Gillette Stadium.
This was the veteran’s first practice of the 2022 offseason, with first-year players already completing their rookie minicamp. The session was a good opportunity to observe the coaching dynamics on offense, where New England saw an exodus in the wake of Josh McDaniels leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders with three coaching assistants. It seems offensive coaching assistants Joe Judge and Matt Patricia are taking leadership roles on that side of the ball. But Belichick remained heavily involved as well during the practice, according to reporters on the scene.
Belichick, however, would not share any additional information about his plans for the coming practices. He was asked whether he’d determined any job titles, with the staff still in flux.
“Do we have titles? Yeah, look, there’s a lot of jobs that we have to do, we’re all working on those things now but — it’s May,” Belichick said. “They’ll change in June, they’ll change in August, they’ll change in September. So, we’ll evolve it to the things timely that we need to do. If you’re asking about game plans, we’re months away from that — months.”
Right. It’s clear the Patriots aren’t game-planning. But what about play-calling?
“Months away. Months. What plays are we calling? Mini-camp plays?” Belichick asked.
Is there a point where a guy who would have that role would need the time to prepare? Is that at the start of training camp?
“Yeah, of course.”
Is the media making too much of this? Because naming a play-caller seems important.
“That’ll all happen,” Belichick said.
What does Belichick look for in a play-caller?
“I don’t know. We’re all different. The execution of the plays, I think, are a lot more important than the plays themselves. I’ve called them, I’ve not called them. I’ve called them, I’ve not called them. And so has everybody else,” Belichick said.
While Belichick did field more questions about the offensive staff and the play-calling on that side, the Patriots coach remained entrenched in his position where he provided responses — but not answers.
Belichick spent much of the practice coaching offensive players while Patricia worked with the offensive line and Judge spent the day hovering around quarterback Mac Jones.
