How ‘trust’ will improve the Patriots’ offense on the field this season
Last week, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones shared with reporters his theme for this year’s training camp – trust. “You’re the quarterback – and at the end of the day when we’re on that field, they need to feel confident in me and I need to feel confident in them. I think that’s built through trust; I think that’s the big word here for this training camp is trust,” Jones shared on the first day of camp.
That trust is starting to show its dividends not just in the day-to-day experience for the players, but directly on the field as well. On Friday, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien spoke about one area where the team trusting Jones has improved the level of play for the offense.
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After a shaky first few days of camp, the offense has opened up this week. That improved performance has coincided with Jones taking a more verbal role at the line of scrimmage. As camp has gone on, we’ve seen more and more of him making adjustments, changes, and checks pre-snap.
Asked about putting those responsibilities on Jones’ plate, O’Brien said on Friday, “we have a lot of trust in Mac. Mac puts a lot of time in. Mac’s very prepared every day.”
O’Brien went on to talk about the importance of being flexibility at the line of scrimmage in the modern game, highlighting why that will be important for the Patriots. “I think in football nowadays it’s very rare – if you think you’ve got to just line up and run one play and that’s the play you’re going to run, that’s tough,” he explained. “Because defenses are still multiple and they do so many different things. Not just our defense, but all defenses. So we have to take that approach.”
Even more than typical modern offensive coaches, O’Brien’s philosophy revolves heavily around pre-snap adjustments. This is one of the major stark changes from last year’s offense run by Matt Patricia, which rarely made changes at the line of scrimmage.
Why is that?
Pre-snap adjustments are predicated on preparation. If a team gets ‘Look A’ from a defense, the quarterback knows to change ‘X.’ If they get ‘Look B,’ the quarterback changes to ‘Y.’ That seemingly would have been a challenge under the Patricia offense, with one source telling The Boston Herald last year when explaining the 2022 offensive system, “a lot of guys would ask, ‘Well, what’s going to happen if (the defense) does this?…And they’d say, ‘We’ll get to that when we get to that.’ That type of attitude got us in trouble.”
Speaking with the media on Thursday, Jones himself expressed appreciation for the new system – one that puts more responsibility on his shoulders. “I do think that this system allows a quarterback – it puts a lot on their plate,” he noted. “But it also allows us to know what to do to play really fast. I think it’s a great system.”
It seems like Jones’ appreciation for O’Brien’s offense is just the tip of the iceberg of their relationship. O’Brien was very complimentary of Jones on Friday. Asked to describe their relationship, O’Brien called it, “really good. Really good.”
“Mac’s done a really good job,” O’Brien continued. “Mac has worked very, very hard since the day I got here, and it’s been fun to coach him.”
Of course there’s still the ultimate compliment the Patriots’ coaching staff can pay Jones – openly saying he’s the team’s starting quarterback. Asked about that on Friday, O’Brien did everything but.
“This is something that’s very, very important about our system, our organization, our football team – is that it’s always about performance,” O’Brien said, beginning what was over a 300-word answer that praised not only Jones, but also backups Bailey Zappe and Trace McSorley. “It’s about consistent high level performance. And certainly Mac gets most of the reps with the ones. You guys are at practice, you see that.”
“I think at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about tonight’s practice. It’s about tomorrow, their day off, and then Sunday practice and who’s really on a day to day basis, who’s performing at a high level at every position,” he continued. “And then Coach Belichick, at the end of the day, he’ll put the lineup out there and then we’ll go to work.”
“But Mac has done a really good job. He’s worked extremely hard,” O’Brien concluded. “I’ve really, really enjoyed coaching him. I said to somebody earlier that asked the question, it’s one of the better quarterback rooms I’ve ever been a part of. They work very hard, they’re very smart. They’re good guys. They care about winning. They’re here very early in the morning. They stay late to get the job done. And it’s been a great group to be around.”
Even without a formal declaration of Jones as the starter, it’s clear to see there’s plenty of trust between him and the coaching staff. So far, it’s translated to on-field success. As that trust builds, will the offense build up with it? That will be something to watch as the season goes on.
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Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at [email protected].