The New England Patriots are off to Indianapolis for a Saturday night matchup with the Colts that carries major playoff implications in the AFC. Hopefully, you've rearranged your weekend plans accordingly.
But first, let's mailbag:
@patsnation207
Will Mac Jones keep Josh in New England or will he seek another job
That's probably the most fascinating angle of the whole Josh McDaniels head-coaching conversation.
Teams like Jacksonville, which just fired Urban Meyer, and Chicago, which seems likely to boot out Matt Nagy by the end of the season, have promising young quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, respectively) that make them desirable coaching destinations. But what if McDaniels is reluctant to leave his own standout rookie signal-caller, even if it means waiting another few years to take over a top job? Jones has flourished under McDaniels' tutelage, and the Patriots already are back to looking like Super Bowl contenders. It's not a bad spot to be if you're an offensive coordinator.
McDaniels has said he "absolutely" wants to be a head coach again, though, and I don't know if he'd pass up an ideal opportunity just to continue working with this New England offense. The bigger question to me is whether that ideal situation will present itself in this hiring cycle.
It's not all about the quarterback -- remember, McDaniels reportedly "loved" Baker Mayfield a few years back but balked at a chance to coach him because the Cleveland Browns' organization wasn't structured to his liking. He's not going to sign on to coach Lawrence (or Fields, or any other QB) if that team doesn't have his preferred organizational stability.
And even if McDaniels does want the Jacksonville job, he'd need to beat out a pool of candidates that could include the likes of Byron Leftwich, Brian Daboll, Eric Bieniemy and Kellen Moore, among others. Jones' success this season definitely bolsters his case, but McDaniels is 0-for-3 on head-coaching interviews since he left the Indianapolis Colts at the altar in 2018.
@NH_Gooner
What position group do you see the Pats addressing in the next draft? What are your thoughts around McDaniels leaving and impact on Mac?
Mike Reiss over at ESPN.com suggested cornerback, and that would definitely be high on my list, even if the Patriots bring back their entire current group. (The case for placing the franchise tag on J.C. Jackson grows stronger each week.)
I'd also put offensive tackle near the top, though, and wouldn't be at all surprised if they drafted one in the first round. Trent Brown is in a contract year, Isaiah Wynn is signed for one more season, and New England might still prefer to move Mike Onwenu back to guard at some point. At the moment, there's not a lot of long-term stability at either tackle spot.
As for your second question, I addressed this in a previous mailbag, but the Patriots don't have an obvious internal replacement for Josh McDaniels if he takes a head-coaching job elsewhere. No one on his staff has play-calling experience, and the jump to offensive coordinator would be a big one for someone like Mick Lombardi (currently wide receivers coach, previously quarterbacks) or Nick Caley (tight ends/fullbacks).
If McDaniels does leave, you could see the Patriots bring in an offensive play-caller from outside the organization. Maybe Bill O'Brien, who's currently working under Nick Saban at Alabama?
@353Kristi
Do I start Damien Harris in my fantasy team?
Harris (hamstring) participated in all three practices this week but was limited. How limited? That, we don't know. He's officially listed as questionable, and there's been no indication of whether he'll be healthy enough to play.
If he's not, expect another heavy workload for Rhamondre Steveson and perhaps a practice squad elevation, as third-stringer J.J. Taylor has been on the reserve/COVID-19 list since early last week. Devine Ozigbo would be the lucky guy in that scenario.
Fortunately from a fantasy perspective, the Patriots are playing on Saturday, so you'll have time to swap in a replacement if Harris can't go. That's assuming you can find one amid the survey of COVID cases that's currently engulfing much of the NFL.
@60065stan
MAC=ROY?
It's looking that way. Jones is the clear favorite at this point. I think he and the Patriots would need to really struggle over the final four weeks for Ja'Marr Chase, who's cooled in the second half of the season, to have a chance of catching him.
@ashley1992_
Hi Zack, Does BB win coach of the year, is it even close?
I do think Kliff Kingsbury has a legit case here based on what he's done with the Arizona Cardinals this season, though they've shown some cracks of late. But, yes, I believe this is Belichick's to lose.
Coach of the Year, more than any other, is a narrative-based award, and there's no more compelling narrative than Belichick rebuilding the Patriots' roster on the fly and turning them back into contenders less than two years after losing Tom Brady.
@nick_sund
Do you think we’ll see Bledsoe in any capacity this season?
I'm interested to see. The Patriots clearly like rookie safety Joshuah Bledsoe enough to give him a late-season roster spot, so perhaps we will see him get some playing time down the stretch, even if it's just on special teams. This is a deep safety group, though, and Bledsoe won't be taking snaps away from Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger or Adrian Phillips if all three are healthy.
Here's what Bill Belichick had to say about the sixth-round draft pick this week:
"Josh got a late start, obviously, because of the situation he had in the spring. That was unfortunate, but he got an opportunity to practice the last 2 1/2 weeks, and he did a good job. He showed up out there, and positively, to the point where we thought he might have a chance to contribute this year. We'll see. I don't know."
McCourty called Bledsoe "super impressive." The Missouri product was activated off the non-football injury list on Tuesday. We'll see if he makes his NFL debut Saturday night against the Colts.
