The New England Patriots’ motto of “do your own thing” doesn’t seem to allow for a change in job description.
The Patriots put all of offensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s play-calling warts on display in a 24-10 loss on Thursday Night Football in Foxboro. Several players, including quarterback Mac Jones and receiver Kendrick Bourne, felt the same way publicly questioning the game plan.
However, it is too late for Bill Belichick to do anything about it.
“I think we’ve got to do better at what we’re doing,” the New England coach said in a weekly interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday. “I don’t think we need to make a lot of drastic changes at this point; it is very difficult to do.
The Patriots rank 20th in points per game (20.75) and last in red zone efficiency. They scored just 12 times on 32 drives inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Belichick attributed the apparent attacks to a variety of factors.
“It wasn’t always the same problem or it wasn’t the same problem in certain games. “Sometimes it changes,” he said. “And there were definitely some plays where the defense didn’t fit when they were called. So whether it was the design of the play or the way he hit a certain defense, they came up too.
There is Jones struggled strongly in the second season. In just over seven full games, he’s 270-of-184 for 1,963 yards, with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last season, the Alabama product played in all 17 games and completed 352 of 521 for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Asked if he was concerned about Jones’ development, Belichick turned around and said there was work to be done for the entire team.
“I think we all want to do better than what we did – record-wise and individual performance [standpoint]. But we look forward, not back.”