Tight end effectively never has been a position to worry about throughout Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots.
But as it stands, that trend is poised to change in the 2019 NFL season.
The Patriots now have a major void at the position in wake of Rob Gronkowski’s decision to retire. New England still has a handful of tight ends on its roster, but none of the bunch are proven at the NFL level. But regardless of who ends up becoming the Pats’ next No. 1 tight end, an ex-New England coach believes it will be business as usual for the reigning Super Bowl champs.
During Wednesday’s edition of “First Things First” on FOX Sports 1, former Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini explained why Tom Brady and Co. will stick to the formula despite impending personnel changes.
“No, I don’t think they’re gonna change their approach,” Mangini said. “One thing they’ve dealt with the past few years is the possibility of Gronk leaving. So this isn’t the only time they’ve talked about contingency plans. Now, they haven’t gone and gotten his replacement and like Cris (Carter) said, we’re not gonna find one player that’s his replacement. It’s probably gonna have to be a couple different guys. But last year there was talk about them moving on from Gronk — the trade to Detroit. So at least that has been discussed, and I think Tom will take whoever comes in and be able to adapt them to the offense.”
Mangini’s remarks aren’t overly surprising, as the Patriots have made it work with whoever they’ve had on offense while Brady’s been under center. But New England currently needs to make some major changes to its collection of offensive weapons, and adapting to the system is far easier said than done.
