Patriots

Bill Belichick a Possibility as Play Caller for Patriots: Report

Report: Could Belichick wind up calling plays for Patriots? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

On some level, Bill Belichick has always had at least some involvement on offense for the New England Patriots.

That involvement could be reaching unprecedented levels in 2022, however, according to a report from ESPN on Sunday.

Jeremy Fowler reported that there's an "open belief" across the NFL that Belichick could call plays for the Patriots this season following the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to the Las Vegas Raiders.

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"The intrigue deepens on the New England Patriots' approach to offense without a true play caller," Fowler wrote. "There's sort of an open belief leaguewide that coach Bill Belichick could call the plays or, at the very least, have more involvement in the offense. He's involved in everything, to be sure, but he could really dig in here."

As Fowler points out, the Patriots lost not only McDaniels to the Raiders, but also quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo. A fourth offensive coach, Ivan Fears (running backs), is widely expected to retire.

As Tom E. Curran predicted earlier this week on Patriots Talk Podcast, Belichick is going to have more of a say on the offense in 2022.

"Bill Belichick is going to go to the offensive side of the ball," Curran said. "He's going to meet with Mac [Jones] as much as he can."

Over nearly 50 years as a coach in the NFL, Belichick has spent only one year fully immersed on the offensive side of the ball, according to Pro Football Reference: He served as receivers coach for the Detroit Lions in 1977, some 45 years ago. But up until the final season or so of the Tom Brady era, Belichick was said to have met weekly with the quarterback to go over game plans for their next opponent.

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