Belichick on Patriots Offense: Streamline, Not Veer
One day into New England Patriots' mandatory minicamp in Foxboro and we already have the 2022 season's first buzzword: "Streamline."
But, as vintage Bill Belichick would have it, the word is doing little to untangle the mess of a mystery surrounding the Patriots' offensive play-calling this season.
While there has already gnashing of teeth among New England fans and media alike about the possibility of Matt Patricia and/or Joe Judge perhaps calling plays in the absence of departed offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to the Raiders, Belichick - other than offering up the sacrificial buzzword - kept his plans close to his vest (see: trademark hoodie).
"Well, we've had a lot of changes offensively in the last couple years, and it's a good time to streamline things," he said Tuesday in his minicamp-opening press conference. "We did that defensively a couple years ago. We feel like it's a good time to do it offensively. There's an element of that every year."
Interesting ... go on, elaborate. Please.
Is it a new system on offense?
"I don't know."
How big are the changes you're making?
"I don't know. You make changes every year. I can't, I wouldn't be able to rank them."
Are we going to see you run an entirely new offense?
"I don't know. I mean, if you think we're gonna run the veer offense, no. That's not what we're doing. Not really sure what we're talking about here."
In summary, the Patriots are not going to run the Triple Option in 2022. And apparently there are alternate definitions for "streamline", because "Josh calls the plays but the buck stops with Bill" is about as efficient as you can get in the NFL.
New England is tweaking terminology and customizing plays for second-year quarterback Mac Jones. Other than that ... Belichick business as usual.
