FOXBORO, Mass. — Shaquille Leonard and C.J. Mosley didn’t pull off some sort of unprecedented defensive masterclass when they were able to accurately predict some of the Patriots’ play calls.
Multiple New England defenders said Wednesday that deciphering an opponent’s plays — as head coach Bill Belichick confirmed Leonard and Mosley both did in recent Patriots victories — is commonplace at the NFL level.
“I didn’t see his comments, but if you’re a student of the game and you watch film, you’re going to pick up on some things that the offense does,” safety Adrian Phillips said. “Sometimes you’re right; sometimes you’re wrong. It’s really not a big deal. Everybody across the league does it. If you watch film and if you’re a good player and you go out there and make the plays more times than not, you’ll pick up on a play or two that the offense does.”
Linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley agreed, even applauding Leonard and Mosley — standout ‘backers for the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets, respectively — for their discerning eyes.
“We’re all pros,” Bentley said. “There’s only so many plays you can run in the game, so some of the plays tend to repeat. So certain keys and stuff like that, you’ll pick up on throughout the games. If you’re able to spot them, it’s kind of a plus for you. Other times, teams like to throw a little wrinkle in there so you’re not always right, but for the most part, hopefully you’re right on a couple of those things. I didn’t see the comment, but shoutout to those dudes for spotting and picking up on that.”
Belichick on Tuesday said there were “two or three plays for sure that Leonard really got a big jump on and stopped us,” and that Mosley “almost looked like he heard the play in the huddle he was on it so fast.”
“We definitely want to prevent that,” Belichick said. ” … As an offense, you always want to be balanced and try not to give things away to the point where you don’t have something complementary that goes with them.”
Those comments raised concerns that the Patriots’ offense under first-time play-caller Matt Patricia had become too predictable. Though New England defeated the Jets and Colts, it struggled offensively in both games, scoring just two touchdowns across 25 non-kneeldown possessions and averaging 3.8 and 3.3 yards per play.
Quarterback Mac Jones’ take on the matter was similar to those of his defensive teammates. But, like Belichick, he wants to ensure the offense isn’t as easily decipherable.
“Like I always say, the NFL is good players everywhere,” Jones said. “We watch film. We sometimes know what teams are doing; sometimes we don’t. I think people just watch a lot of film, and there’s good players out there, so you have just give credit where credit’s due. Obviously, we want to fix anything that we’re giving away, but at the end of the day, we’ve got plenty, and we just need to do better.”
Patriots players heard Leonard occasionally call out their plays before the snap during last Sunday’s game, according to reporting by MassLive’s Mark Daniels. Jones was asked if he has the power to audible into a different call in those instances.
“It just depends,” the QB said. “Sometimes you can’t hear. I mean, you can’t hear everything, right? Obviously if you hear it, you can try to change it and fix it and make it a better play. But like I said, there are good players everywhere, so you’ve just got to kind of go with the punches.”
Remedying their myriad offensive issues surely will be a primary focus for the Patriots as they enjoy their bye week. Next up for them is a rematch against Mosley and the Jets next Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
