Perry: Will Pats offense unveil an Alabama-inspired wrinkle in Miami? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The element of the unknown. Bill Belichick has referenced it often ahead of his team’s Week 1 matchup with the Dolphins. It’s one of his standard talking points before the regular-season opener annually.
“It’s opening day, nobody’s really shown anything,” Belichick said this week. “We’ll see what happens first game. That’ll declare a lot more going into the second game. That’ll declare a lot more going into the third game, and then there’ll be a point that we get a pretty good feel for what the other team’s going to do, and probably what [we’re] going to do, too.”
The reality is that the Patriots may be the team more shrouded in mystery than the Dolphins headed into 2022. Whether or not that will help Belichick’s club in any way Sunday ….. to be determined.
Miami is what it is. Even led by a new head coach in Mike McDaniel, what the Dolphins do appears relatively self-explanatory. That’s the expectation at least. McDaniel is a Kyle Shanahan guy. Has been since they linked up in Washington and continued their professional relationship in Atlanta, then out to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, McDaniel’s top assistants in other phases — special teams coordinator Danny Crossman and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer — are well-known to the Patriots. Crossman has been the kicking-game boss in Miami since 2019 and was in Buffalo before that. Boyer grew up in the Patriots system, serving as cornerbacks coach before being hired as pass-game coordinator in Miami by Brian Flores in 2019. He worked his way up to defensive coordinator the following year.
Belichick acknowledged recently that those familiar faces could throw something new his way this weekend. Still, he and his team have a good grasp on their foundational philosophies.
“Certainly looks like from preseason that the kicking game is similar to what Danny did in the past, and the defense is similar to what Josh has done, so we’ll see,” Belichick said. “But that’s what it looks like. And then Mike’s influence on the offense is definitely 49ers flavor. What he did at the 49ers and also obviously similar to what it was in Washington. Shanahan system.”
The Patriots, meanwhile, are a bit of a wild card.
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Defensively they may shift as they’ve moved away from bigger linebackers and watched their best man-to-man corner, J.C. Jackson, depart via free agency.
After being a man-coverage-heavy unit for years, blitzing their linebackers like mad, Belichick along with Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick could be directing a more zone-coverage-heavy defense that relies on its front — Christian Barmore and Matt Judon, especially — to generate pressure by winning one-on-one matchups.
Offensively, the Patriots have shown their hand this summer. To a degree. They called for all kinds of wide-zone run plays in competitive practice periods with media in attendance. They also ran several against the Raiders in their preseason finale. Those have been emphasized in this changing Patriots scheme.
But there are other elements of their offense that haven’t yet been “put on tape” in the same way. In their preseason contests — which all teams have the ability to see after the fact, unlike joint practices — the Patriots hardly did some of the things that it’s fair to expect them to do now that the games matter.
First, they’re going to audible. We’ve been over that in great detail.
Second, the run-pass option game should be unveiled. That was something the Patriots starters sprinkled into their practices consistently over the summer but rarely broke out against the Panthers or Raiders. You may see those plays when Mac Jones pulls a potential handoff away from a running back and fires out wide to a pass-catcher — perhaps on a receiver screen or a slant — while the offensive line blocks for the initial run call. The ball better be out fast or Jones would risk an ineligible-receiver downfield penalty being called.
That type of play is right in Jones’ wheelhouse, though. He ran those concepts frequently during his time at Alabama. While the Patriots had the ability to run RPOs last season under Josh McDaniels, they were seldom seen and certainly were nothing approaching a staple of the offense.
They may be a more frequently-used tool by Jones in his second season. About a month ago, during camp, he alluded to the fact that the Patriots were trying to incorporate things he liked that he’s done in the past.
RPOs would qualify.
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“I think we laid our foundation of what we want to do and what the coaches want to do,” Jones said back in August. “We’ve definitely bought into that. There’s things that I’ve done in the past. There are things that I like, and we’re trying to incorporate them more. Or things that Coach Belichick sees on film and he’s like, ‘Hey what do you think about this?’
“It’s very fluid and for them to be able to take some of our thoughts is really important. I think the really good offenses in the NFL, you can tell that the play-callers and the quarterback are on the same page. So I think we’re getting there and that’s the progress we need, and I’ve been really pleased with that.”
One more new wrinkle the Patriots could show Sunday that they haven’t yet in preseason? Jonnu Smith featured as a Swiss Army knife.
Going back to early last offseason, Belichick and his staff understood they had to get more out of Smith, who was being paid as one of the top tight ends in the game. Despite the financial commitment made to him, there were moments in his first year with the team that he was barely part of the plan. Against the Colts in Week 15, he played 17 total snaps. Against the Bills in the Wild Card round, he was out there for 20 plays and ran just four routes as a receiving option.
This summer, the offensive staff has shown a willingness to use Smith in a variety of different roles. He’s been seen as an in-line player. He’s been seen in the slot. He aligned in the backfield at times, alongside Jones in the shotgun. He was motioned and given hand-offs. He was a screen option, at times.
NFL executives don’t view Smith as someone who can provide the Patriots a multi-faceted playmaker like the one they had in Aaron Hernandez. But he’s thought to be a better blocker, and Belichick has raved about Smith’s run-after-catch ability in the past. With the ball in his hands, he’s a threat for a chunk gain, and the Patriots will try to get the ball in his hands in a multitude of ways.
Yes, if the Patriots continue to roll with the Shanahan-style runs they’ve shown all summer — and that feels like a real “if” at the moment — that would represent a relatively new look for them.
But between the audibles they’ll have available, some RPO calls, and a new blueprint for Smith’s usage, there are a few additional elements they could unveil against Miami.
Whether or not those changes are ready to be unveiled … Whether or not they’ll represent positive change when unveiled … It’s all part of the unknown for Week 1.
Get your popcorn ready.
Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/mac-jones-imprint-could-patriots-164000122.html