FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots are dealing with internal issues. Based on comments made following Thursday night’s loss to the Bills, there’s a lack of buy-in with the offense.
And it’s not just one player. It’s quarterback Mac Jones, who had an outburst during the game, as well as several other players in the locker room, namely wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who questioned the scheme and what was happening on third down.
So now what?
The Patriots are teetering on the edge with a Monday night game in Arizona on tap. They’re a borderline playoff team. Either it’s going to be a mess the rest of the way, with a clubhouse in turmoil over the offense, or Belichick will somehow right the ship.
Former Patriots offensive line coach and top Belichick assistant Dante Scarnecchia, who has been through a few of these rodeos, offered a few pearls of wisdom. His expectation was that the coaches and players would get together and air out grievances, address the issues, and move on.
“This is just one guy’s personal opinion. I’m not projecting anything, or saying anybody’s right, or anybody’s wrong, or anything like that,” Scarnecchia said when reached Monday, “but I would say I think issues, especially anything of that nature, needs to be addressed. It needs to be talked about, and talked about outright.”
Scarnecchia is a firm believer that good can come from conflict. He learned that from former Patriots head coach Bill Parcells.
“If I don’t meet your expectations as a coach, and I’m not doing everything that’s necessary to be successful, then you have a right to be in conflict with me. As I do you if you don’t meet my expectations. So conflict’s not bad,” said Scarnecchia. “It’s uncomfortable. But sometimes the truth is necessary, as long as you’re willing to stare it down and do all the things necessary to improve, then that’s what it’s all about.”
By the sound of it, Belichick and the players have addressed the elephant in the room in some fashion.
On WEEI Monday, Jones sounded like the page had turned, saying it was important to have those tough conversations with the coaching staff.
“It’s everybody being accountable. That’s the definition of tough coaching – it’s hard conversions,” Jones said. “If something may have not gotten right with a player, ‘hey, you did this wrong.’ As a player, it’s ‘ok, how can I fix it?’ I think our coaches have done that and we have to lock into that and ‘alright, what’s the problem and how can I solve it?’
“We understand it’s us the player. We have to trust the coaches, which we are,” he went on. “They put a lot of hard work into it. That’s what we have to do. It’s a player’s game. We want to come together and play together.”
With no changes on the immediate horizon in terms of play calling and scheme, it’s the only way the team can move on. Knowing how Belichick runs his ship, Scarnecchia believes this too shall pass.
“You have to keep everything in perspective. You can’t overreact. But you can’t sit there and say ‘well it’s going to get better tomorrow’,” said Scarnecchia. “You have to do everything you can to make sure that you’re taking all the steps to get it right today. Discussion is always helpful.”
As Scarnecchia recalled, that always worked when Tom Brady lost his mind on the sideline. Brady certainly had a few blowups over the years, most notably with coordinators Bill O’Brien and Josh McDaniels.
That didn’t necessarily derail the team in the aftermath. The Patriots always seemed to recover.
With the extra time to prepare for Arizona, that should help the cause. Losing to Buffalo in the manner they did merely triggered all the angst the players have with the offense, and the plays being called.
Scarnecchia, however, believes they’ll get past it.
“They have a big game coming up, Monday night, so that’s the whole focus. That’s the game they got to point to, and the game they gotta win,” Scarnecchia said. “Look, if they go there and play the way they want to play, and the results are the way they want them to be, things look a hell of a lot different. And that’s OK.
“I just think you just don’t lose your mind over it. You strive like hell every day to do things better, and hopefully, it’ll manifest itself the next time they play. Then, it becomes a different place.”
Asked if Bourne crossed a line by airing his views publicly, Scarnecchia chalked it up to frustration, although he would have preferred the wide receiver keep his thoughts in-house.
“After a very tough loss, a hugely disappointing loss, and the inability to get things done in the red zone, and third down, and all that, things blow up. We’re all human,” said Scarnecchia. “You would hope he would bottle it up, and address it to the position coach or even to the coordinator in another setting that’s not so public.”
That said, Scarnecchia always wanted players to provide their views. If they questioned something, it was important to provide the answers.
“When a player would come up to me and say, ‘why are we doing this, or why are we doing that?’ — those are honest questions that deserve an honest answer. I would suspect those things have been answered (this week) honestly.”
Ultimately, Scarnecchia has faith that Belichick will restore order, and get the team back. They have a tough remaining schedule, but are still in the playoff mix.
“There’s no one better suited to get this team going back to the way he wants to see them play than Bill,” said Scarnecchia. “We’ve been in tough situations. They’ve been in tough situations before and have found ways to rally out of them.
“They’ve got great leadership from the head coach all through the roster and especially the leaders they have on the team … I think it’s a shared situation, because it’s a team. Not one person can do it, not one coach can do it. They all have to do it together, and hopefully, that’s what they’re striving for, and hopefully, that’s what’ll happen.”
Captain David Andrews conveyed that very message Tuesday during his media session.
“I think everyone’s committed to try and turn it around and make it go the right way,” he said. “That’s all we can do. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
