As Patriots fans continue to endure what’s been the team’s most difficult year in nearly two decades, ownership also appears to feel some of that frustration.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan were together in the owner’s box on Sunday during New England’s 20-17 loss to Washington, and by all accounts, they’re clearly aware of how bad things are when it comes to their football team.
In fact, Fox caught a glimpse of that on Sunday, and what played out was somewhat telling.
WEEI’s Andy Gresh caught a moment on the broadcast where cameras captured Robert and Jonathan having a conversation following the team’s stalled drive in the third quarter that resulted in a field goal. That play, at the time, put them up 17-10 with 10:14 left to go the quarter, but it was clear they weren’t happy.
Watching it back further after pulling up the broadcast again on NFL+ and reviewing it a little further back than Gresh’s clip, it appears the two may have been discussing something they saw on the in-stadium replay, which is available on the team’s game day app for people within the stadium.
The two plays prior to the field goal were both frustrating. One was a deep back-shoulder throw to receiver Jalen Reagor, which hit the defender in the stomach after Reagor got boxed out but managed to break up the pass and prevent an interception. The next play was a 3rd-and-11 throw to Mike Gesicki, who broke in on a deep post play, and the defender got in between him but never turned around to look for the ball. That one left both Gesicki and Mac Jones each wondering why there wasn’t a penalty for interference.
Whatever it was the father and son were discussing is tough to say. But you can see Robert Kraft point and tell Jonathan to “watch” something and “see what I mean”. Instead, Jonathan responds, “I don’t have to watch,” shaking his head while seemingly smiling in disbelief. He then follows that up by waving his hand in dismissal and looking down, clearly adding, “We’re not good enough.”
The two then go back to reviewing things on their respective phones for a moment prior to Washington beginning its next possession.
If that moment represents anything, it’s that they know the situation they’re in. After all, they just watched New England’s offense fail to have much success against the NFL’s 28th-ranked defense, while watching a second-year 5th-round pick outperform Mac Jones with a better group of receivers than the group their team currently has.
The only question is whether or not they believe things might change if that problem is potentially fixed on that side of the ball ahead of next season, and whether or not it’s Bill Belichick who can be the one to right the ship once that happens.
Either way, Jonathan’s reaction is telling. And it’s not a good sign, especially given where they are right now with not much hope that things will improve anytime soon.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
