The New England Patriots’ motto of “do your job” apparently does not allow for a change in job description.
The Patriots came up way short in a 24-10 loss to the Bills in Foxborough on “Thursday Night Football,” with all of offensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s play-calling warts on display. Several players, including quarterback Mac Jones and receiver Kendrick Bourne, seemed to publicly question the game plan.
It’s too late for Bill Belichick to do anything about it, though.
“I think we need to do what we’re doing better,” the New England coach said in his weekly interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday. “I don’t think at this point making a lot of dramatic changes; it’s too hard to do that.”
The Patriots rank 20th in points per game (20.75), and are tied for last place in terms of red-zone efficiency. They’ve scored touchdowns just 12 times in 32 trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
Belichick attributed apparent offensive woes to a variety of factors.
“It hasn’t always been the same problem, or it hasn’t been the same problem on certain plays. Sometimes that’s shifted,” he said. “And there’s certainly been some plays that haven’t matched up well against the defense when they were called. So, whether that’s the design of the play, or the way it hit against a certain defense, those have come up as well.”
Jones has struggled mightily in his second season. In a little over seven complete games, he is 184 of 270 for 1,963 yards, with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last season the Alabama product played all 17 games and finished 352 of 521 for 3,801 yards, with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. When asked if he was concerned about Jones’ development, Belichick pivoted and claimed there is work to be done for the entire team.
“I think we’d all certainly like to be doing better than what we’ve been doing — from a record standpoint and from an individual execution [standpoint]. But we’re going to look ahead and not backward.”
