Some assorted notes and nuggets from Tuesday’s conference calls with New England Patriots coaches:
— Head coach Bill Belichick was asked which Patriots player portrayed quarterback Kyler Murray in practice ahead of Sunday’s 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals. He wouldn’t say, but he did share some interesting insight into how that decision is made each week — and why it’s so important.
Here’s the full transcript of Belichick’s response:
“Yeah, that’s one of the things that we really talk about as a coaching staff and the most important thing in terms of preparing for a team that we can do is our practice. So, trying to get a similar look at what our opponent does during their scheme and to get it executed well by the practice player and also to see players that can give us a good look at what we are going to see on Sunday, that’s very helpful.
“Sometimes, we use a combination of people. Sometimes, one person can sort of fit that. Sometimes, we use some of our regular players on the scout team. They can give us a good replication of the type of player that we are going to see on Sunday. This will be a combination of all those things, and we’ll talk about it. That’s one of the things we’ll talk about today for our practice planning for tomorrow and through the week is how to divide up the players. Sometimes, you might have one player that could be one of two players, and then you have to pick out which one you want him to be and that type of thing.
“So each week is a little bit of a different conversion. At the same time, we want to try to give those players an opportunity to work on things that will help them in their position, either improve or prepare for the game. Like, if they are backup players that would have a role in our game, not practice squad players, then we don’t want to necessarily ask them to do something that is totally different that wouldn’t help them work on their skills. It’s a great question, and it’s really a combination of trying to take all those into consideration, plus the overall health and physical condition of your team and individual players, guys that you might want to practice a little less or there might be players you want to practice a little more.
“So it’s a combination of working all those things out. It’s really a weekly discussion that at times can become a daily discussion on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday based on what you are working on as you go from, call it, early downs to third downs to the red area. That could change a little bit, too. If you get a team like Arizona that maybe had a tendency to use the quarterback in the running game more in the red area than they did out in the field, then maybe the player you use to be that running quarterback is different than the guy you use on third down. So, again, I would say it’s usually a combination of people, but it’s very much of a week-to-week and even sometimes a day-to-day decision.
“That’s a great question. It’s always something we want to try to get ahead of, and like I said, try to present the best look at what our opponents do as we can so that the plays in practice have the most similarity to what we’ll be facing.”
Whatever the Patriots did to prepare for Murray, it worked.
The dangerous Cardinals QB finished with his second-lowest passing yardage total of the season (170 on 34 attempts with one interception) and rushed just five times for 31 yards.
— Donte Moncrief was an unlikely standout against Arizona, returning a kickoff 53 yards to set up one of James White’s two touchdowns.
Patriots players and coaches had spoken for weeks about finding some way to energize their lackluster kick return team, but Moncrief was an unexpected choice to replace primary return man Gunner Olszewski.
The 27-year-old receiver had just two career kick returns under his belt before Sunday and said he hadn’t consistently practiced in that role since his rookie year in 2014.
So, why Moncrief? Special teams coordinator Cam Achord offered an explanation Tuesday.
“Obviously, Donte can run,” Achord said. “He’s a bigger guy, stronger guy, and that’s one thing we look for in guys — the ability to break tackles. It’s not always going to be perfect, and having a guy that can run through arm tackles — he did a really good job on that play.”
Moncrief, who’s been elevated from the practice squad for each of the last two games, recalled having a straightforward conversation with Achord early last week.
“The special teams coach asked me, ‘How do you feel about doing returns?’ ” Moncrief said after the game. “I’m like, ‘If you need me to do it, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever to help this team.’ He gave me a chance during the week and he liked what he saw, so he stuck with it.”
If the Patriots want to keep Moncrief involved in their game plans, they’ll need to sign him to the 53-man roster, as practice squad players are only allotted two temporary elevations.
— Olszewski continued to handle punt-return duties and had the first touchdown of his NFL career wiped out by an illegal blindside block penalty on linebacker Anfernee Jennings.
That flag prompted some consternation among Patriots fans and football purists — Jennings didn’t hit the defender from behind or with his helmet — but Achord understood the call, as players now are prohibited from forcibly blocking toward their own end zone.
“We’ve got to play within the rules,” Achord said. “So on that play specifically — block back toward your own goal line with forcible contact — the coaching point is we’ve got to show the intent with our hands. We just have to avoid the guy, in all honestly, with our shoulder. Like, we can’t make contact with our shoulder back toward our goal line.
“So we’ll work that — leading with the hands, not making contact (with the shoulder), or just shielding off the guy. Basically, make it like a pick in basketball. You can have a moving screen in football; there’s (no rule) there. … Those are the two things he has the option to do there.”
— Nick Folk has been largely excellent for the Patriots this season, going 19-for-21 on field-goal attempts with two 50-plus game-winners and no misses since Week 2.
But in the event of an injury that prevents Folk from kicking, Achord said the team is confident punter Jake Bailey could serve as an emergency placekicker.
“If we ever got into a situation where Nick was down or wasn’t able to go, we have enough confidence to put (Bailey) out there to help us, for sure,” Achord said.
Bailey ranks second in the NFL in net punting average (45.5 yards per punt) and has just two touchbacks on 30 punts through 11 games. He also handles Patriots kickoffs and practices field goals, too. Safety Devin McCourty recently said he’s seen Bailey drill 50-plus-yard kicks in practice.
“He’s doing a really good job,” Achord said. “We’re putting a lot on his plate, and he’s responding well.”
