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(PHOTO: Greg M. Cooper - USA TODAY Sports) Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston had former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer on his podcast this week, and Hoyer provided some incredible insight into what was obviously a fascinating/frustrating season in 2022.
Hoyer talked about the challenge of implementing the system Matt Patricia attempted to that year, and said the experience of not having done it is what led to a lot of the problems they experienced that summer.
“I think there was a lot of shifts trying to take place, and there were shifts trying to take place with kind of no clear path, I guess that’s the best way I would put it,” explained Hoyer. “You know, you were trying to get away from the system that had been run here for so long, but there also wasn’t anyone who had been in another system that was trying to implement it.”
“Look, I’ve played in a lot of different offenses, and what we were trying to do that year was kind of a hodge-podge of a bunch of different things without a clear-cut person who had ever run those things before, and I think that frustrated a lot of people, especially guys who had played in that offense for a long time.”
Hoyer added that one of the problems heading into that year was the fact that players had previously played under Josh McDaniels, who he said really put a lot of emphasis on guys having an understanding of the reasons behind the concepts and having a solid handle on things.
That’s why when players started questioning Matt Patricia on some of the concepts, he said that’s where the problems started.
“It was a blessing and a curse to be coached by Josh McDaniels for as long as we were, because Josh demanded so much out of you that you had to learn the ins and outs of everything and the reasons and the rules,” said Hoyer. “And when you go from that to a system that really doesn’t have a solid foundation and doesn’t have a lot of rules and all those things to guys who have been coached that way for so long, we were kind of looking at like, ‘Well, how do you want us to do this?'”
Hoyer also pointed out that for guys who were new to the team, which included then rookie quarterback, Bailey Zappe, they didn’t have the same preconceived view of things.
“It was funny, the guys who had never been in that system before, they didn’t know the difference,” said Hoyer. “They were like, ‘Oh, this is just what it is.'”
He also added that when it came to Mac Jones, he was impressed with how intelligent Jones was when he joined the team in 2021, but that learning under McDaniels set a bar that became an issue for anyone handling the offense moving forward after McDaniels left for the Raiders.
“I would say this about Mac Jones, his rookie year, I was convinced people were telling him the answers to questions in the room or they were giving him the script on the field, because I had never seen someone that young learn that offense so quickly,” said Hoyer. “It took me three years to get to where he was at the end of training camp. That to me, it was a blessing, and it was a curse because when Josh left, a lot of people who were going to come in weren’t going to be at the point to be able to coach him at that high of a level, and he’s an intelligent guy so he questions a lot of things.”
When it came to the overall change, Hoyer said that he was supportive of what they were trying to do and he even provided playbooks from his time in both Cleveland and San Francisco to try and help coaches get a better handle on the concepts.
Hoyer said that when it came to Jones, what the Patriots were doing was similar to what Alabama had done, having incorporated various systems into their offense, which Jones obviously had familiarity with. However, when it came to trying to transition here, he believes the lack of really being able to explain it was what ultimately prevented it from working.
“I think that’s what the idea was,” said Hoyer about incorporating various concepts of offense. “But I don’t think there was anyone who could put the vision to paper and then explain it and then have us go out and do it. I think that was the tough part.”
Prior to going to Las Vegas, Bill Belichick apparently called the former Patriots quarterback and told him to retire.
That apparently struck a nerve with Hoyer, who ended up reuniting with Josh McDaniels out in Las Vegas ahead of the 2023 season. Hoyer said that his Week 6 win over New England was “gratifying” as it justified his decision to keep playing.
“Honestly, I got a call from coach Belichick, and he told me that I should retire,” said Hoyer. “I wasn’t ready to retire and I knew that I could still play. So there was nothing more gratifying than to go out there and then beat the Patriots this year.”
Hoyer didn’t start that contest, but he ended up in the game in relief of Jimmy Garoppolo, finishing 6-of-10 for 102 yards during the Raiders 21-17 win over the Patriots in Las Vegas.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The above appeared in a recent notebook column here.)
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