Bill Belichick reopens mystery of the anonymous Patriots' offensive play-caller
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is in peak form this season in his dealings with the media, and he didn’t disappoint during Friday’s press conference heading into a Week 5 matchup against the Detroit Lions.
The legendary coach seemingly pushed back on the notion that Matt Patricia was the offensive play-caller for the team. There was an ongoing mystery throughout the offseason and training camp of who would take over the play-calling for former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who left for the Las Vegas Raiders head-coaching job.
It was always believed to be a mixture of Patricia and Patriots offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach Joe Judge sharing the play-calling duties — before Patricia actually took over the responsibility.
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But the latter may not necessarily be the case. Per the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan, the Patriots coach objected to “a description of Matt Patricia as the team’s offensive play-caller.”
Are the Patriots still working through their offensive play-calling duties with the joint efforts of Patricia and Judge? Is Belichick himself calling the plays? Or was the whole press conference remark just another mental-gymnastics session by the greatest coach in NFL history?
Mystery and conspiracy lovers should have fun with this one. The case of the anonymous offensive play-caller in New England has now been reopened.