Patriots Coach Bill Belichick made it clear that, regardless of who calls the plays on offensive, what he wants goes. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said Monday he’s not too concerned with the frenzy over not officially naming an offensive coordinator or acknowledging a play-caller.
And even though Matt Patricia has been calling plays in the preseason, Belichick once again described the process as being a collaborative effort. In the end, though, the buck stops with him.
“We have jobs to do. Our staff works well together,” Belichick said during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
“There are a lot of people that are involved in all three phases of the game. Ultimately, I’m responsible for all of it,” he said. “If you want to ask who’s in charge, that would be me. I have the final say in every area. That’s the way it’s been. And I don’t really see that changing.”
Belichick said that no matter who’s calling the plays, there’s always been a running dialogue between the coaches.
“I’m not going to take anything away from Charlie (Weis) or Josh (McDaniels), or Billy O’Brien, or anybody. That’s not the point,” he said, referring to past offensive coordinators. “No matter who the play-caller is in any area, offense, defense or special teams, there are other people who are a part of that.”
Belichick then explained how former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia also had input in the running game and protections, while the receiver coaches have input on the routes called based on coverages.
Ultimately, the coaches huddle with the quarterback after each series and go over the calls.
“When you see the coaches and players working on the sideline, that’s what we’re doing. We’re preparing to call the next series of plays and ultimately somebody will make the call,” said Belichick. “As I said, I would have the final say on that. If there’s something I didn’t want to call, we wouldn’t call it. If there’s something I did want to call, we would call it.”
Belichick says he gets input from all the coaches, be it Nick Caley (tight ends), Troy Brown and Ross Douglas (receivers), Vinnie Sunseri (running backs) or Joe Judge.
“The communication of the offensive and defensive staffs is critical to any process, and ultimately who calls the plays,” he said. “I’m not minimizing that, I’m not saying that but there’s a process. A lot of times the play caller makes plays based on the recommendations or information he’s received from other people on the staff. It’s a collaborative effort.”
Then Belichick added: “We’ll get ’em called. Don’t worry about that. We’ll get ’em called.”
AFTER A WEEKEND off, the Patriots fielded almost their entire roster at Monday’s practice in Las Vegas.
According to reports, tight end Hunter Henry and offensive linemen Isaiah Wynn, Justin Herron and Bill Murray were back after missing practice last week. Wynn wore a non-contact jersey for the shorts-and-shells session. Only four players were missing, with linebackers Ronnie Perkins and Harvey Langi being the only surprise absences.
Wide receivers Kristian Wilkerson (concussion) and Tyquan Thornton (clavicle) also missed practice because they did not travel with the team.
MATTHEW JUDON faded down the stretch last season.
The Patriots linebacker, who recorded 12.5 sacks in the first 13 games last season, didn’t register another one in the final four games, plus the wild-card loss against the Bills.
Appearing on the “Gresh and Keefe” show on WEEI, Judon said he’s doing his best to avoid a repeat.
Asked what he was doing to get a better version of himself, Judon pointed toward conditioning down the stretch.
“It’s a long season, and I gotta be fresh,” said Judon, who was also a bit banged up late in the year. “I’ve been asking some guys, some older veterans about how they did it, and how they went through, and made it through year upon year about being great throughout the whole season.
“So I just want to say my conditioning level, that’s one thing I’m working on.”
Judon has looked good in camp. So has the entire front seven. Belichick made note of that during his appearance on WEEI earlier in the day.
“We’ve been fortunate those guys have been able to maintain a good work pace, and be out there consistently and improve from day-to-day, and ultimately, when you stack those together over a period of time, you see real growth, not only in the individual, but in the unit,” said Belichick. “It’s been a really good camp for the front seven.”
JULIAN EDELMAN made news last week when he hinted at a possible return to the NFL during an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show.”
Well, if that’s happening, it’s news to Belichick.
During his appearance on “The Greg Hill Show,” Belichick was asked about Edelman’s remarks, and if he still communicated with his former leading receiver.
“I talk to Julian – I talk to him fairly regularly,” Belichick said. “I don’t know about him talking to Rich Eisen and all that. You’d have to ask Julian about that. I don’t know.”
During the Eisen’ interview, Edelman, 36, said he missed football, and was asked if the Patriots or Buccaneers came calling, would he consider coming out of retirement?
“I’ll tell you right now, if I had three weeks, three maybe four weeks – start of the season, absolutely not,” said Edelman, who retired after playing six games for the Patriots during the 2020 season. “But if there’s a team vying for a playoff run, guy goes down. Could I get ready? I probably could… You can never say never.”
TIGHT END Dalton Keene, one of the Patriots’ third-round picks in the 2020 draft, has been cut by the team, a source confirmed to the Boston Herald.
The move comes ahead of the NFL’s next cutdown deadline with teams having to pare their rosters down to 80 on Tuesday.
Keene, who has been plagued by injuries, played in just six games, all of those coming during the 2020 seasons. The Virginia Tech product had three catches for 16 yards, with a fumble.
The Patriots had drafted Keene, along with Devin Asiasi in the third round the same year, to try to revamp the tight end position. Neither has made an impact.
The Patriots still have Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Matt Sokol and Asiasi in the tight end room.
In terms of the 2020 draft, Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Michael Onwenu and Justin Herron still remain.
With Keene’s departure, along with the release of defensive backs Jalen Elliott and Devin Hafford on Saturday, the Patriots now have 82 players on the roster. They’ll need to slash two more by 4 p.m. Tuesday
Send questions/comments to the editors.
