If you think Matt Patricia being in the Eagles coaching box in Sunday's opener is concerning to the Patriots because of his one year as offensive coordinator and close working relationship with Mac Jones, think again.
"Yeah, right," said one team source, laughing. "I'm sure he has all the Mac cheat codes and all that. Sure.
"Yeah, no one's worried about that."
Normally, yes, Patricia might have some intel on a QB he just worked with that is not apparent on film (most of this stuff is overblown and apparent on film, especially when you have all offseason to get ready for the opener). But, thanks in part to Paticia's failings, that was a different Jones last season. And Bill O'Brien coming to New England after his stints at Houston and Alabama makes this Patriots offense and how Jones will perform in it very unpredictable for the Eagles. There's a lot of old New England offense in it, but that certainly can be minimized in a season opener. And Patricia and O'Brien last worked together in New England in 2011 and they never faced off as head coaches (O'Brien was fired when the Lions and Texans met in 2020 - won 41-25 by Houston).
"I mean, this type of thing gets talked about every week and every year," Belichick said this week on WEEI. "There’s always somebody on the other team that we know or somebody that’s on our team that was with somebody else. So, it’s pretty common in the National Football League. I have a ton of respect for Matt. Matt’s helped us win a lot of games (and) championships here. But Sunday’s game will be about the Eagles and the Patriots. You won’t see either one of us playing on the field — which is probably a good thing."
There are, however, two related concerns about Patricia being with the Eagles this time around (was the gig a reward for giving the Eagles 538 total yards and 41 points in Super Bowl LII?) that should be of interest to New England:
No. 1, the intel that Patricia can give and has given Nick Sirianni and new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson on how Bill Belichick will try to defend the Eagles. That is a huge benefit, and something other former Patriots assistants have fed off of.
Josh McDaniels held the ball for 33 minutes and Derek Carr threw for three touchdowns as the Raiders beat the Patriots last year.
Mike Vrabel's Titans, when healthy unlike '21, beat the Patriots 34-10 in the 2018 regular season and dominated them at Gillette in the 2019 playoffs.
Brian Flores beat Belichick in his final three matchups as Dolphins coach, and started Tua Tagovailoa's unbeaten streak against them.
Heck, even Patricia's 2018 Lions built a 13-0 lead on the Patriots in an easy 26-10 victory at Ford Field that saw future 6-10 Detroit put up 414 total yards.
(We're not even going to mention the 80 points and 910 total yards Brian Daboll put up on the Patriots to finish 2021 - or what he did as Eric Mangini's offensive coordinator in Cleveland.)
Forget Mac Jones. That's not the story. Patricia's ability — and, quite frankly, that of any former Patriots assistant — to know instantly what Belichick will do to curtail the opposing offense is the unquestioned biggest intel benefit heading into this one.
I would not be surprised if Sirianni, on Patricia's very first day of work, told Patricia to go study Eagles film from last season and tell him how the Patriots will defend Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.
“He’s been an excellent resource for me,” Sirianni told reporters before camp. “You bring guys like that in to do just that, be resources for you.
“Like I said, awesome, awesome resource, comes from a great coaching tree. Always been fascinated by that coaching tree, and how I can pick the brain of that so I can continue to get better as a coach and ultimately us get better as a team.”
We'll see if the Patriots have a counter to this, like Belichick turning Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo loose to craft their own gameplan. Can't rule it out. May have to. Patricia knows all the Patriots' defensive rules — if the offense does X, then the Patriots' adjustment is Y — and how to exploit them, to say nothing of the Patriots' inability over the years to contain athletic quarterbacks.
Armed with Patricia's insight into the Patriots' defense, if the Eagles come out smoking on offense on their first few drives — after having all summer to get ready for Philly — New England and its vaunted defense is in big trouble.
This would lead to the second area of concern with Patricia being on the other sideline:
Patricia would be speeding up, perhaps, the end of Belichick's career in New England — that Patricia himself started last season.
Some people don't fault Patricia for not turning down Belichick when he tabbed him as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach last season, which was a predictable disaster. Others at One Patriot Place due fault Patricia for not having more of a backbone and protecting Belichick from himself.
"You have to know what you don't know," said one source. "He should have told Bill, 'I appreciate the confidence you have in me, but this is not in the best interest of you or the football team. We can succeed like this.' Instead, Matt did what he always does — said yes to Bill."
That decision right there set off a chain reaction of events that put Belichick on thinner ice with the Krafts, who were downright angry at what happened last season, especially in regards to Jones.
That thin ice is the backdrop of this season.
(An interesting side note: if the Patriots' offense is to do anything against the Eagles' great defensive line on Sunday, they're likely going to have to use a ton of the concepts - quick game, screens, zone runs, read options - that Patricia tried to implement last season. He just didn't know how to do it. O'Brien does.)
And an embarrassing home loss to the Eagles to open the season — with Patricia a key figure on the other sideline — wouldn't help matters.
It would almost be a continuation of last season, which would not be good for Belichick.