FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — There are similarities to the past here, but many more differences. Believe it or, there are just, by my count, 12 Patriots left who’ve won rings in New England. The offensive and defensive play-callers from the last title team are gone, too. And what’s left? A team that should provide a good litmus test for the program’s post–Tom Brady staying power.
1) Nelson Agholor and Jonnu Smith have built on strong springs in camp, and each looks more comfortable in an offensive scheme that’s been streamlined and simplified. Both guys are interesting in that you might have to do different things to highlight their strengths, but those sorts of adjustments have been made as the new offense has been shaped by Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.
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2) Similarly, Jalen Mills, Davon Godchaux and Matt Judon are more comfortable in their second years in New England, and it’s showing in how they’ve become leaders for their position groups. Mills, in particular, has had a nice summer. He’s not in the class New England’s been accustomed to having at corner over the last decade (Aqib Talib, Darrelle Revis, Malcolm Butler, Stephon Gilmore), but he’s solid at a position that might take some time for the Patriots to sort out.
3) While we’re there, New England’s still figuring out how the rotation will look at safety, corner and receiver—which is to say you’ll probably see a lot of guys filtering through those spots early in the season. And you can look at that a couple of different ways. On one hand, they’ve got the kind of depth where they’d have the flexibility to do it. On the other, if they had stars at those positions, there’d probably be more emphasis on keeping the same guys on the field and building continuity.
4) The offensive play-calling remains a question. During joint practices with the Panthers, it sure looked to the Carolina folks like Belichick was handling play-calling when the Patriots went into two-minute situations. Still, Patricia’s been the primary play-caller for most of camp, and Judge has gotten reps, too. A lot of people who’ve worked in Foxborough think Belichick is going to wind up with the play sheet sooner or later. And in putting this together, it sort of feels to me like his role on offense this year will be like it’s been the last couple of years on defense—where Steve Belichick is the primary play-caller and Jerod Mayo runs meetings. Which, of course, would mean a changing dynamic for Mayo and the younger Belichick this year.
5) Mac Jones has very clearly found his voice in the locker room. He’s got a good feel for when to pull which lever (hardass vs. goofy young guy) and has enough command to direct his teammates and the offense as a whole. His confidence was apparent during the practices with the Panthers—he was actually chirping at the Carolina coaches (they coached him at the 2021 Senior Bowl) during 11-on-11 work, which is the way he was at Alabama. That, I’d say, is a sign that he’s pretty comfortable with where he is as a quarterback.
