Bill Belichick back “delegating” Patriots’ offense
After conflicting reports and clear struggles on the offense last season, the New England Patriots made a major addition to the offense, bringing in a face that Mac Jones knows well In January, Belichick brought in Bill O'Brien to lead the offense, with the former Alabama OC knowing the Patriots organization quite well after moving up […]
After conflicting reports and clear struggles on the offense last season, the New England Patriots made a major addition to the offense, bringing in a face that Mac Jones knows well
In January, Belichick brought in Bill O'Brien to lead the offense, with the former Alabama OC knowing the Patriots organization quite well after moving up throughout the organization from 2008-2011 before leaving to become head coach for Penn State.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer addressed the relationship between the two, while also reporting that it appears Belichick is placing his faith in O'Brien.
“As for any lingering issues between Jones and Belichick, it was far harder to ascertain whether the needle’s moved much on that relationship at all. There was no come-to-Jesus meeting at the end of the last season on how everything came undone, and my understanding is Jones has spent his time with O’Brien, with Belichick mostly delegating all things offense to his new/old coordinator, in a siloed-off model that feels, to those there, much more like how things were when Josh McDaniels was around a couple of years ago,” Breer writes.
Jones appears to be working well with O'Brien, describing things as "normal" following the first open OTA last week. And with that, it also seems as if Jones is already QB1 heading into minicamp, with the third-year veteran taking all of the first-team reps.
New England finished the 2022 season with a 8-9-0 record, missing the playoffs for the second time in three years. And it can be said that Jones never called things normal last season while former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and former special teams coordinator Joe Judge ran the offense.
O'Brien is bringing in a lot of experience, serving as the former head coach of the Nittany Lions and Houston Texans, along with being the offensive coordinator for Alabama before rejoining New England.
Jones was the NFL’s top rookie quarterback in 2021, but took a big step back last season. With the addition of Bill O'Brien, the Patriots are hopeful that Jones will return to where he was in his first year.
Featured Image via Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK
