FOXBORO, Mass. -- Before the start of Monday's Patriots practice, Bill Belichick seemingly expressed a willingness to make major changes to the team's struggling offense.
What transpired over the next two-ish hours only could've moved him closer to making such a decision.
New England's offense has been awful virtually all of training camp, regularly struggling to string together successful plays during competitive team drills. Initially billed as little more than "streamlined" with tweaks to "terminology," the revamped system has revealed itself to be something much different than what the Patriots usually run on offense. The shift to a Shanahan-style scheme, with an emphasis on running and zone blocking, is among the more noteworthy alterations.
The consistent woes of the offense have led many to wonder whether Belichick could ditch the system -- or, perhaps, switch up the coaching roles -- if things don't improve in the very near future.
In a roundabout way, the Patriots head coach was asked about it on Monday afternoon.
"In camp, in preseason, during the season, mid-season," Belichick said. "You see things that are going well, you try to figure out a way to exploit that more or do more of it. You see things that aren't going well, you either figure out a way to improve it or get rid of it and move on to something else that's more productive. You have a couple different options there. You just have to decide which one you feel is the right one. If you're spending time on something that's not productive, then maybe you need to change it or find something else. It's just not efficient."
When asked how difficult it is to change something after putting significant time into it, Belichick added: "That's part of it. Like everything, it's not going to work out perfectly, and again, we have a number of new players in certain positions, and we'll have to see how they adapt, and find out what things they're good at and what things we need to do less of and what things we need to do more of. I think we're finding that out, certainly with the rookies and younger players, but also with some other players we've added to the team. That's the process. Sometimes it takes a while, but ultimately you have to make that judgment, and sometimes you make it sooner rather than later."
Now about the practice.
In many ways, Monday saw the Patriots' offense look worse than it has at any point in training camp -- and that's saying a lot. Nothing went right: Mac Jones looked out of sorts, receivers couldn't get open, the offensive line couldn't block and miscommunication appeared prevalent.
The struggles also felt more consequential.
After two days off, and with the preseason opener against the New York Giants looming Thursday night, the Patriots' defense took the field with a clear purpose. They were the loudest they've been since the start of camp, hooting and hollering after every pass breakup, stuffed run, sack and interception (of which there were three during competitive team drills). Defenders appeared in great moods throughout practice, and for good reason.
By contrast, the offense, amid mounting concerns and criticism, needed to show signs of life but failed to do so. The first 11-on-11 period was especially distressing.
At one point after a team drill, Jones appeared visibly frustrated while walking alone before looping back to rejoin his teammates. Later, Kendrick Bourne was seen venting on the sideline after a pass intended for him was picked off by Jalen Mills. It might be fair to question Bourne's effort on the play, too.
Finally, center David Andrews led a lengthy offense-only huddle after practice. The Patriots captain was animated and didn't break the huddle until defensive players were nearly two minutes into their post-practice media availabilities. He then cut off his own news conference after a few questions, all of which were about the offense's struggles.
And all of this happened after Belichick indicated at least a willingness to switch things up.
So, is it time for Belichick to put an eraser (maybe the one on Patricia's pencil is available) to the new-look offense and try something else? Perhaps, but you also could make a case for sticking it out through the Giants game. Let that be the litmus test.
Either way, to this point in training camp, the Patriots' offense has done nothing to make the new system look like a worthwhile investment.
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