WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A funny thing has happened with the Patriots in their practices down in South Florida before Sunday's season opener against the Dolphins.
The Patriots' offense has shown us something in each of the 10-minute portions open to the media.
Or maybe they haven't.
That is the game, and no one plays it better than Bill Belichick.
Here's video from today ... and this was the very end of the session — there was more to glean earlier, and we'll get into that in a minute.
Belichick knows we are out there. He knows there is likely to be video shown on the internet, including by South Florida TV stations getting their fill of the Patriots. So this all could be a well-coordinated rouse by Belichick.
It should also be noted that the Patriots, who are infamous for their security procedures when it comes to their football operations, are in a highly unsecure area. Yes, there are tarped fences around one end of the field, but you can easily see through them, and there are areas in this urban area where you can get a clear view of their practice if you really wanted to — to say nothing of possible drone coverage if you were, say, the Dolphins and wanted to use the nearby airport as cover.
With that out of the way, let us tell you what Belichick has chosen to show us the past two days, and tell you what we think it means:
- On Wednesday, which is a normal down and distance day, the Patriots were in mostly single-back, under-center stuff with bunched formations. Almost all the pass routes were very quick and underneath.
- On Thursday, which is a big third-down day of prep, the Patriots ran a lot of tempo. The first team period was spent going fast, with Ty Montgomery as the opening running back, and he would line up all over the place. Isaiah Wynn was at RT and the first-team offensive line was intact. That group when down the entire field going no-huddle, with the second group starting a few plays later with Brian Hoyer. They then came back down the field, with Damien Harris replacing Montgomery, which is the video you see.
- Matt Patricia was on the walkie-talkie the entire time with Jones. To me this indicates he will indeed be calling the plays come Sunday. These practices should be spent getting ready for game situations, and why wouldn't you have the playcaller doing it now? Need to get him ready, get as many reps as possible.
For as much as Belichick has emphasized big plays all summer — and we've heard he has done this behind the scenes — I can't tell you many sessions have really worked on that. Almost all the pass concepts the Patriots have worked on have been short, quick and horizontal variety. Now, there are vertical concepts off that, and it would not surprise me if they will go short to go long later — basically baiting the corners to sleep, getting them to bite on short routesThatA. common tactic with spread offenses, and Patriots have used those concepts for years with the hope of drawing a coverage bust.
The Patriots working on tempo today was interesting because I think it's their best path to success in the early going, with the offense struggling to find a rhythm with their running and passing game due to problems in the offensive line.
There are certainly many benefits to playing fast, if the Patriots choose to go that route. The Patriots know where they are going, which allows them to go fast. It gives Jones control of the game, which is a strength of his.
"I see a really, really good NFL quarterback that he'll just continue to progress," said Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. "He's one of the guys that I feel very confident in how he plays the position. And even if he has any sort of hiccups, he's one of the guys that you know is going to be a legitimate NFL player at that position, which is so hard to do. He commands the game. He really has a feel of timing and – elusive, people don't really say hand in hand, but within the pocket, he is very elusive. He's got a real cool charisma and command that I first saw when we were doing I think Zoom interviews at the time, talking to him about his stellar collegiate receivers, which one of them we have. I really like his play and I think the best is right in front of him for his career and I look forward to watching it 15 out of the 17 games of the NFL season."
It does not allow the Dolphins, who are very aggressive with their pressure packages, to set up their designer blitzes and looks. It can also lead to confusion for the defense in terms of coverage and gap responsibilities. That lightens the load for the offensive line, since they don't have to worry about getting into a three-point stance.
"They've got a great pressure package you know, obviously a lot of carryover on the defense staff and players," said David Andrews. "So it's gonna be a big challenge. They do a really good job of that, doing different looks and they create a lot of issues so we'll have to do a good job. Today's a big day, third down emphasis for us so do a good job trying to look at it today."
There are some serious drawbacks to doing tempo, which has prevented the Patriots from doing it all that much in the past. If the defense has been out on the field for a while — especially in the Miami Gardens heat and humidity — do you really want to risk a 45-second three-and-out and putting them back out there? That could have a serious effect later in the game.
And if the Dolphins sense they don't have to defend the run, are you simply throwing your pass blockers to the wolves without the threat of a power running game.
All of this adds to the intrigued of this offense, under Matt Patricia in this game against a team they've had trouble with.
McDaniel is expecting a curveball of some sort.
"One of the features of Coach (Bill) Belichick's team for years is there's plenty of elements of surprise," the rookie coach said. "So I guess I'd be surprised not to be surprised. There's a degree of – I'm not sure if it's uncertainty, but there's a little unknown. I'm sure people are saying the same thing about me and the Miami Dolphins. But at the same time, I do know that it's going to be very sound, very tied together, players are going to know what they're doing and there's going to be an intent with which they play football. So however that manifests itself, with different sort of wrinkles. At the same time, it's not about plays, it's how an offense kind of executes a system. And I've seen from the brief preseason footage, a team working on a system, which is a common denominator for successful offenses in the National Football League."
Patriots bringing back Marcus Cannon: The team's former starting right tackle is being signed to the practice squad, per Field Yates. May or may not be connected to Cam McGrone not being on the practice field today.
Certainly interesting. If Isaiah Wynn can't go for whatever reason (dealing with back injury, could be traded at some point), I'd feel more comfortable with Cannon than Justin Herron and/or Yodny Cajuste.