Bill Belichick surely has some thoughts about Isaiah Wynn, who got benched Sunday evening in the Patriots’ 27-24 overtime loss to the Packers.
But don’t expect New England’s head coach to say what’s truly on his mind.
Wynn endured a downright awful first half in Green Bay, committing two penalties (one declined) while allowing two sacks. The first sack forced Brian Hoyer from the game with a head injury; the second resulted in a Bailey Zappe sack-fumble. It was yet another awful performance from Wynn, whose transition to right tackle hasn’t gone well at all.
When the Patriots came out for the second half at Lambeau Field, 34-year-old Marcus Cannon was at right tackle with Wynn, a first-round pick in 2018, on the bench. Wynn eventually reentered the game with New England shifting Cannon to a jumbo tight end role after Jonnu Smith went down with an ankle injury. Overall, Wynn finished with 48 snaps to Cannon’s 25.
Still, Wynn got benched in this game, and rightfully so. Belichick was asked about it Monday morning during an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” but swatted the question away in typical Belichick fashion.
Question: “What did you see from Isaiah Wynn that led to you replacing him with Marcus Cannon?”
Belichick: “Well, Marcus was active for the game. We planned on playing him anyway. So, we did.”
Got it, thanks.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Patriots give Wynn another chance or give the job to Cannon. If Wynn’s going to give up multiple quarterback hits per game, New England can’t risk having him on the field when Mac Jones returns from his ankle injury.
That said, injuries and run-focused game-planning could result in the Patriots again putting both Wynn and Cannon on the field. So, Wynn might still see playing time even if he gets demoted.
We’ll find out one way or another this Sunday when the Patriots host the Detroit Lions. New England now sits in last place in the AFC East and essentially will be in a must-win scenario.
