FOXBOROUGH - As we get closer to the end of the week, I want to hit on several topics today. If you’re tired of the quarterback discussion, I’ll try to keep it brief(er) than I’ve been. But on a normal week, Thursdays are when we get 10 or 15 minutes with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and I’d be a fool not to keep asking about Drake Maye’s play.
One word Mike Vrabel used in describing what he wants from Maye on Wednesday was “decisive.” Heck, I put it in quotes in the headline of that story. He really hammered that home. So I wondered if McDaniels had seen any improvement on that front from week one to week two?
“Sure. You know, I mean, a mistake is a mistake, but there were a lot of good plays,” McDaniels said, “and I'd say, too, for us offensively, it's always about the group. It's always about the group. It's always about the group.”
As the longtime coach repeated those words, he firmly hit the table with both hands. Not once. Not twice. But three times. As much as Vrabel has publicly chided Maye the last two weeks, McDaniels wanted to remind us that there’s much more to digest when watching a play, series, or game than just putting it all on the quarterback.
“It takes 11 people on offense to make a good play go. That's what it takes,” he insisted. “It always has required that. So he has to do his part. We have to do our part around him. We have to do a good job as coaches of putting our group in the right position. But every good play is the sum of a lot of guys doing something well and that's the burden we bear playing offense. We can't get away with 9, 8, 9, guys doing their job the right way, and two or three of them not. It doesn't really work that way.
“Drake made some really good plays the other day, and I certainly want to try to clean up some of the things that are - putting the ball in harm's way is obviously something we want to try to do away with.”
Part of the burden on McDaniels right now is guiding Maye through this difficult stretch to get him out on the other side, hopefully more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the way defenses are scheming against him and this offense.
The Jaguars may not be in the same defensive class as, say, the Seahawks, but I view it as a coin flip between them and the Steelers (though not stylistically). Their defensive coordinator, Anthony Campanile, has a unique background, having worked under both Brian Flores (chaos) and Vic Fangio. He has tried to merge the two styles into something distinctly his own, and the Jags run the ‘dreaded’ cover 6 at the second-highest percentage in the league.
“I'm sure he's learned an immense amount from those people, but he's got his own personality,” McDaniels said. “You can see it on the film. There are games where they do different things and challenges schematically. There are other games where they don't have to, and they're good enough to try to beat you that way too. So you've got to be ready for a lot of things. … there's definitely going to be an element of schematic challenges we're going to have to handle, along with the fact that they got good players.”
The Patriots have that as well, though it's been hard to see consistently through the first two weeks of this season (and the postseason last year). McDaniels is not remotely close to pressing the panic button (I don’t think he owns one). Instead, he and the staff continue to gain valuable information about the players they have and, eventually, how and where they can adjust the offense to reach a higher level.
“I think the balance is really - it's not a balance at all. It's just - I think it's work. There are things you do well, and there are things you're not doing as well as you would like. But I, I mean, we could sit here and talk about this all day. ‘14, ‘18, ‘21, ‘25, every one of those years in my career, and then there's probably another 2,3,4, that I could tack onto those. The first month of the season is about growth and improvement. Progress is a big word, and if you jerk the wheel and you know turn a car into the wall, you're going to have a problem.
“I think our guys are really working hard at it. You know, squeezing harder to try to get a result that you are looking for is oftentimes a bad formula. So I think we're going to go out there and practice again today. Had a good day yesterday. Try to put another one on there today and finish the week the right way, and go down there and play our best football of the year so far.”
YOU DON’T KNOW HIM, BUT YOU SHOULD
I’m talking about Parker Washington. He doesn’t have the name recognition of a Brian Thomas Jr. or Travis Hunter, or the long resume of Jakobi Meyers, but Washington is the 'Jags' best wideout and someone the Pats will need a plan for.
“Oh, he’s a great receiver,” Marcus Jones told me. “When it comes down to setting up routes and everything, yeah. They use his quickness, taking advantage of bad technique and DBs and everything like that as well.”
Through the first two weeks, Washington’s target share (36.7%) is second only to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That number measures the percentage of a team's pass attempts directed at a player. This started brewing late last season (over the final 5 weeks) and is no longer an anomaly. The Jags tried and failed to lock him up to a long-term contract similar to the one Michael Wilson got from Arizona (3 years, $75 million). If this keeps up, Washington is going to go north of that number.
Don’t be surprised if Christian Gonzalez finds his way across from the 24-year-old at times, especially on money downs. I’d normally suggest more of a full-time lockdown approach; however, Trevor Lawrence a) has more problems against zone than man, and b) with Thomas and Hunter on the outside, there’s a real threat of vertical shots. Gonzalez is best equipped to handle those.
IS THE TIME NOW?
Milton Williams hasn’t loaded up the stat sheet through two weeks. He’s not playing poorly (disregard nonsensical PFF grades), but he understands that more is expected of him. He’s had a number of ‘close but no cigar’ plays when it comes to affecting the quarterback - he missed tipping that 4th down conversion to Smith-Njigba by a fingernail, and also had a near sack of Aaron Rodgers. No one is more bothered by that than Williams himself.
“It's tough. It's tough. Even last night, you know, you kind of keep yourself up thinking about plays that you could have had or that you missed,” he said. “But it's all hunger. It's all just pushing me to go even harder in practice, and hopefully it translates to the game with the amount of work that I'm putting in. I feel like that tide is eventually gonna turn, and it's on me. I gotta make something happen.”
Sunday presents his best opportunity yet. Williams and fellow DT Christian Barmore, depending on how they’re deployed, will line up across from rookie guard Emmanuel Pregnon. The third-rounder out of Oregon was a rock in week one against the Browns. He was a sieve last weekend versus the Broncos, surrendering a half-dozen pressures (mostly to DT Zach Allen).
“He is a rookie, Williams confirmed. “From what I've seen on TV, he looked like he got pretty good feet, strong guy, but he is a rookie. So I definitely try to, you know, take advantage of that matchup when I get those opportunities. But you can't sleep on them. Can't go into it thinking I'm finna just walk past them. You know, he's in the NFL too.”
He is, but this is the type of matchup both DTs should feast on. Period. End of story.