New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels made a bold claim while speaking to the media last month.
McDaniels, whose offense is notoriously difficult for some players to grasp, was asked whether he made changes to the language, considering many returning members of the team are working within their fourth different system in the last four years. It’s difficult to fully decipher his word-salad response, but the answer was yes.
“Yes, definitely… our language has been refined a little bit between last year with the time that I had and then this spring with the coaches,” McDaniels said. “I think that it’s really getting streamlined.”
Great!
The Patriots will rely on plenty of young players to get the ball rolling offensively, with rookies Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams expected to play huge roles around some veterans who are new to the system — like Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs and Morgan Moses.
Hunter Henry is one of the few players (along with Kendrick Bourne, Rhamondre Stevenson, Mack Hollins) who have seen the differences in this iteration versus what has been used in the past, though, and believes “streamlined” might not be the right word.
“It’s pretty similar to the past, to be honest with you, in a lot of ways,” Henry told MassLive’s Karen Guregian. “I think compiling stuff, there’s definitely some new stuff. I guess you guys will have to keep watching.”
I wouldn’t exactly call that synergy between coach and player.
New England has resources to help everyone get up to speed, but an ugly performance on the first day of organized team activities will certainly worry some fans about Maye’s ability to pick up McDaniels’ offense.
It’s not time to hit the panic button just yet, but this is something to keep an eye on as we enter the summer.
