The preseason opener for the New England Patriots didn’t clear up who will call the team’s offensive plays this season.
As part of New England’s unconventional approach to its coaching staff this offseason, which includes Bill Belichick not naming an offensive coordinator, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge shared the duties of calling plays in the 23-21 Patriots loss to the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium on Thursday.
Giving Patricia that responsibility sure is putting a ton on his plate. Patricia is also listed as the New England’s offensive line coach, which seems would put him in a bind between trying to figure out what plays to call and adjustments to make for the next series while simultaneously coaching up the offensive linemen.
And that’s where Patriots center David Andrews stepped in, Thursday night. With most of the starters resting, including Andrews, he still found a way to get involved. At points in the game, he even looked like the de facto offensive line coach with Patricia tied up elsewhere.
NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry even noted how Andrews met with the offensive linemen after a series and led the discussion before Patricia finally joined in. It’s certainly not out of the norm for a veteran like Andrews to provide insight to younger players on the team, but assuming as large of a role as he did was striking.
Andrews did get rave reviews though from one of his fellow offensive linemen.
“You just don’t want to let him down,” Justin Herron said, as transcribed by Henry McKenna of FOX Sports.
Having Andrews help out as much as he did shows just how difficult things will be for Patricia to try to juggle all of his responsibilities if he indeed ends up being the sole play caller for the offense.
The Patriots certainly have a unique coaching situation, and it only seemed even stranger after watching how things played out in the first game of the preseason.
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