CoachSpeak is back for round two with yours truly. We heard from the assistants here on Tuesday morning. As several of them were taking place simultaneously, I couldn't be everywhere all at once. So, I focused on a few, including Bill O'Brien. As always, they use words, and I am here to interpret them uniquely.
I will add that today's scheduled press availability with offensive line coach Adrian Klemm did not happen. The team's spokesperson made the announcement in the virtual meeting room that Klemm was to appear in. My understanding is that Klemm was not in the building at that time. More if it warrants.
I asked Troy Brown if he was disappointed in the overall group of pass catchers and their ability to make enough plays to win games.
Brown: "Man, I think the obvious thing is that nobody wants to be two and seven. I don't think anybody here - coaches or players - wants to be in that situation. So it is what it is. I will say if I'm disappointed in anybody, it will be myself - not having our guys ready to go to play at a high level, but you know, go out there, and we compete and play hard, and we leave a few plays here and few plays there. If we could just make them, it could be the difference in the game for us."
Are you seeing enough improvement during the week? Or is it just not translating to the games?
Brown: "All the guys, they go out there, and they work hard, and they practice well, they practice hard, they try to get the things right that we're asking them to do in practice and, you know, so the game is a different situation, but as close as we can get is practice, but, you know, so we go out on the field with some confidence, then we can get it done. And then, you know, we come up short. So that's that's the NFL, you know, we got to make the critical plays when we need to make them so and, and that's the difference in the games. Most of the games that we've had this year so far. So, come down to one score games, last opportunities, and we've got to find a way to get better at closing up football games.
Giardi interpretation: This hasn't been a banner year for the receivers, so naturally, the questions about Brown have gotten louder and more frequent. This isn't the first time the coach and former Pats great has been questioned about the overall performance of his group, and it's fair. You need to see more improvement and reduce the mental errors that have plagued them the past season-and-a-half. However, this reflects my view on the position group coming into the season. They're just not talented enough. They are bottom third, at best, in the league. Probably lower, like, say, bottom 10%. So, is it the chicken or the egg? Would we praise Brown if Mac Jones was flinging the ball to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle? Or would the coaching be irrelevant? The truth lies somewhere in between.
Cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino was asked a number of questions about the J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones situations. In particular, about Jones sitting on the bench at the start of the game, away from the defense, with a towel wrapped around his head. It was pointed out this is unusual by veteran scribes who have watched the team week in and week out for years.
Pellegrino: "Yeah, so you may know, or you may not know, I'm up in the box. So I didn't really see that. You know, you can ask Jack about that. But you know, I would say that would be an outlier. I've never seen Jack really, you know, on the bench when the defense was up. So, it must have been something going on for a quick second, but I'm not going to speak on it. He could talk about it. I wouldn't blow it out of proportion. It's probably just one thing that happened. If it was a consistent thing, would I be concerned? Yeah, but it's not a consistent thing. So I'm not. I wouldn't really hang my hat on that one. That's not the guy that I know.
Followup: Was the benching (or however you want to term it) with those two expected, or a game-time decision?
Pellegrino: “Things happen. I put the guys out there that I felt like were ready to go in that moment. You know, everybody knows what they need to do to play. So I'll just kind of leave it at that. I'm not trying to create a narrative. I trust all my guys. What, they all went in to play, right? So I've said this from, I think, week one - if they're at the game, that means they're ready, prepared, and ready to go into the game. So, I have faith in all my guys to go out there and execute the game plan and do a great job. So, I really just did what I thought was best in that moment. And…yep."
Later, Pellegrino was asked if it was the week of practice that led to the decision to start Shaun Wade over Jones and Jackson.
Pellegrino: I wouldn't say there's one thing right there that, you know, I feel like the narratives are a little messed up. What did Shawn do to really earn that? I think that's really - everyone's trying to make it about those two - but it's really what did Shaun do to really earn that, right? And Shaun had a great week of practice. And Shaun played really well. And Shawn did his job, and, you know, I think the narrative should be more pushed towards what did Shaun do right to earn that opportunity. Shaun has done a lot of great things here for us this past year and is a different player than he has been in the past. So, you know, my hat's off to Shaun. He did all the right things. And, you know, he got what he deserved.
Giardi interpretation: I didn't expect to get an answer. The Pats rarely, if ever, put benching or internal conflicts on the record. That doesn't stop them from leaking the info, but they don't drop bombs in everyone's lap. It's not how Belichick operates. Therefore, it's not how his coaches will operate if they want to keep coaching here.
Interestingly, Pellegrino noted that he made the decision. I don't know if that was a misspeak or deflection, but he said it. The other aspect of this call that caught my attention was Pellegrino's praising Shaun Wade. It was a jammed call, so there were no follow-ups or circlebacks, but if the former Ohio State was so good leading up to and during the game, why did he not return to play the position after the first two series?
Finally, speaking with Bill O'Brien, a question was posed about Mac Jones appearing to be sped up in the pocket and what can be done about that going forward.
O'Brien: "I think there's some truth to that. I think that it kind of goes under the umbrella of what it's been for most of the year for us - inconsistency. So it's not just about one guy. You could really say that about, obviously, the whole offense, and so we just need to be more consistent, whether it's coaching it better or executing it better. Really, it's not just Mac. It's every position. We're striving for that consistency. We still haven't really found it, and we're still working hard to get it. There's a lot of football left, and hopefully, we can find it starting this weekend. But that's really what it falls under. There were times on Sunday when Mac, you know, like the touchdown pass to Hunter was just a beautiful play. And then other times where yeah, maybe he was a little bit sped up, and we've got to do a better job of coaching it up and working with him. But at the end of the day, we all just have to strive for more consistency."
Giardi interpretation: Mac wasn't good on Sunday. He hasn't been good for the majority of the season. His sped-up internal clock leads to poor mechanics time and time again. In this game, there wasn't much need for it. The line has stabilized. I'm not saying they're good. They're not. But they also aren't the trainwreck they were earlier in the season, with the likes of Vederian Lowe trying to hold it down. Cole Strange was sound. Mike Onwenu was excellent. That leads me back to the quarterback and the belief that were there a more competent backup (Bailey Zappe is getting some reps), then Jones would probably be holding the tablet with a baseball hat on.