Bill Belichick and Patriots reporters squared off all summer over the mystery surrounding New England’s offensive coaching staff.
And credit to Belichick: He still hasn’t ceded an inch.
All tea leaves and tangible evidence point toward Matt Patricia delivering plays to Mac Jones on Sunday when the Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins. But the “senior football advisor/offensive line coach” played coy when asked about his responsibilities last week, and Belichick on Sunday did the same despite the season opener being just days away.
Check out this exchange between Belichick and NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran:
Curran: “How much can you unveil to us how the process has worked going into this game? I mean is it a collaboration? Is Matt at the forefront? Is it a mind melt of everybody?”
Belichick: “We have a good staff. We have a lot of people on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, everybody contributes. Ultimately, I have responsibility for everything that happens on the field. In the end, I’ll take responsibility for that. But we have a lot of great members of the staff. A lot of different ideas come from different areas or a collaboration of ideas. We’ll see how it goes.”
Curran: “Who sets the script? I know you guys probably script a little bit. Is it you and Matt and Mac? You, Matt, Mac and Joe (Judge)?”
Belichick: “Script what? What are you talking about?”
Curran: “I would imagine you guys must script some plays. Like your first third and long, you’re going to look to do this. Or whatever. I know that in the NFL teams who have scripted plays for a long time. So I guess I’m presuming that there’s probably some scripting.”
Belichick: “Yeah, again generally if you were to talk about a situation like that you talk to the entire staff there and say, ‘Okay first third-and-one here’s what we practiced, what are we thinking?’ Somebody might say ‘let’s do that,’ or ‘this will be a real good time to do that and then come back with that one the second third-and-one.’ Those suggestions, those ideas, can come from everybody and anybody. And I’d say that’s the way it’s always been.”
There’s a chance Belichick announces something over the next few days. After all, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll on Monday revealed that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will call plays in Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
However, it’s more likely that Belichick and the Patriots keep this thing close to the vest until gameday — and potentially beyond.
