Bill Belichick noncommittal about offensive play-caller for Patriots following Josh McDaniels departure

Bill Belichick isn’t divulging any secrets on which of his coaches will be calling plays for the New England Patriots in the post-Josh McDaniels era. 

Will it be offensive assistant Joe Judge who is working with the quarterbacks? Is it Matt Patricia, now a senior football advisor who is coaching the offensive line? Will it be Belichick himself? 

“There’s a lot of jobs that we have to do and we’re all working on those things,” Belichick said Monday morning. “Now, it’s May. They’ll change in June. They’ll change in August. They’ll change in September. So we’ll evolve and do the things timely that we need to do.

“Now if you’re asking about game plans, we’re months away from that.”

Belichick won’t give away anything when it comes to the offensive play-calling for the Patriots, causing even more skepticism in his decision-making on that side of the ball. For a decade, McDaniels handled the offense for New England while Belichick could focus on defense and special teams. 

Whenever Belichick wants to designate an offensive play-caller for the Patriots, it will be when he decides to make that call. Minicamp isn’t the time — with other matters to take care of first. 

“What plays are we calling? Minicamp plays?” Belichick said. “We’re going to coach the team, coach the players, and get them ready to go. We’re going to do all the things we need to do to compete in games. Right now, we’re months away from that.”

Judge isn’t giving away anything either, other than he’s working with Mac Jones and with the quarterbacks. Patricia just revealed his role with the offensive line, and nothing further.

“Right now we’re all just working … like I said it’s mostly drills and skills we’re working offensively,” Judge said last week. “I do think it’s critical for every coach on the offense to understand the game plan and be prepared as a play-caller. 

“In terms of who calls plays, to be honest with you that’s not the main focus for us right now as an offensive staff. When Coach (Belichick) wants us to go ahead and declare a role like that, he’ll tell us.”