Friday Patriots Notebook 7/21: News and Notes
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Some news and notes on this Friday:
The Patriots quietly updated the “coaching” section of their website on Wednesday, which provided some clarity on a few positions within Bill Belichick’s staff.
As Belichick gets set for his 49th season as an NFL coach, which will be his 25th as head coach of the Patriots, he’ll obviously do so having made a few changes.
The one that stood out the most was the fact that 2022 quarterbacks coach Joe Judge has assumed the assistant head coach position, which certainly caught most people by surprise.
That being said, Belichick has had no issue with trying to prop back up guys who were coming off difficult tenures as coaches elsewhere, and it’s possible that could be the case for Judge.
Judge was fired by the Giants ahead of last season and came on board as part of the offensive staff that included Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator, with Judge being given the title of quarterbacks coach.
However, there was reportedly friction between both Judge and quarterback Mac Jones, as well as several other players in the offense in 2022 who didn’t appear to agree with the move.
The hiring of Bill O’Brien obviously resets and stabilizes things there, with the results thus far having seen everything seemingly moving in a better direction heading into training camp.
Here’s the full staff list under Belichick for 2023, per the team’s website:
Offense:
Wide Receivers / Kickoff Returners – Troy Brown
Wide Receivers – Ross Douglas
Adrian Klemm – Offensive Line
Will Lawing – Tight Ends
Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks – Bill O’Brien
Running Backs – Vinnie Sunseri
Defense:
Safeties – Brian Belichick
Linebackers – Steve Belichick
NFL Coaching Fellowship / Defense – V’Angelo Bentley
Defensive Line – Demarcus Covington
NFL Coaching Fellowship / Defense – Keith Jones
Assistant Head Coach – Joe Judge
Linebackers – Jerod Mayo
Cornerbacks – Mike Pellegrino
Special Teams
Special Teams Coordinator – Cameron Achord
Special Teams Assistant – Joe Houston
Strength and Conditioning:
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach – Moses Cabrera
Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Deron Mayo
While Judge may officially have the title, it feels a little more safe to say that Jerod Mayo’s role goes well beyond just being the club’s linebackers coach.
Mayo was very active throughout 2022 on the sideline and seemed to be involved in conversations at times with the entire defensive unit, as well as being around Belichick at various moments throughout last season.
The former linebacker and current coach has received a fair amount of interest from teams as a potential head coach, and it was interesting that the club went out of its way to make sure he stayed in the fold this past offseason.
Many seem to believe that when Belichick does eventually move on, Mayo could be the one who steps into that role.
That’s why it’s so interesting that Judge was provided the title, which may have been done to try and help the embattled coach re-establish himself after a tough run.
Belichick has been no stranger when it’s come to bringing back guys who left the organization and didn’t fare so well elsewhere. We saw it with Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, and obviously also last year with Judge.
He’s done a good job of putting them in the spotlight and allowing them to share credit during the team’s success, which has seemingly created future opportunities. We saw it at various points, such as the interest McDaniels received from both Indianapolis – which he initially accepted the head coach position, only to back out – along with his current head coaching job in Las Vegas. That came after being fired in Denver as head coach, as well as limited time with the Rams as their offensive coordinator.
The tough part for Judge is the fact that a lot of the reports that came out after the season made their way into the national spotlight, so it’s tough to tell how he may be viewed.
At the same time, Patricia is back at work focusing on where he last had success, working as a senior defensive assistant with the Eagles. This comes off last year’s debacle as offensive coordinator, which everyone knows how that turned out.
But the Eagles clearly looked at his defensive resume and gave him a shot. As a result, clearly not everyone may view him in a bad light.
People give Patricia a hard time but it’s very likely he simply acknowledged his role last year was something that was dificult and it just didn’t work out. If that’s the case, then good for him and hopefully it works out.
That is, of course, as long as it goes badly in Week 1 when New England opens the season at home against Philadelphia at Gillette Stadium.
Meanwhile, what the future holds for Judge remains to be seen, but for now, it appears he’ll likely take the place of Patricia next to Belichick on the sidelines when we see him this season.
Anyone who is a fan of New England’s red throwbacks will be pleased to know that it looks like we’ll see them twice again this season.
The club announced the news on Thursday, with the Patriots reportedly set to wear them in Week 2 at Gillette Stadium (Sunday Night Football against Miami), and then again in Week 13 in a 1:00pm home game against the Chargers.
New England wore them last year with mixed results. They blew out the Lions in Week 5 29-0, and then dropped a tough one to the Bills during a frustrating 24-10 loss that led to the infamous outburst on the sideline by Jones toward Patricia.
Hopefully, they’ll have better results and especially against the Dolphins, which will be key as New England tries to get off to a strong start in what is set to be a tough 2023 Patriots schedule this season.
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On game day, who will be calling the defensive signals ?