Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Did Bill Belichick put his embattled offensive coordinator Matt Patricia on blast heading into the Week 10 bye week? One former New England Patriots linebacker and current analyst says he did.
Ted Johnson, who spent his entire playing career with the Patriots from 1995 to 2004, and won three Super Bowls in New England, says he believes Belichick purposely exposed the fact that New York Jets linebacker CJ Mosley and the Indianapolis Colts’ Shaquille Leonard seemed to know his offense’s plays before they were called.
According to Johnson, who works for NBC Sports Boston, this was Belichick’s way of “calling out the coaches,” including Patricia, Joe Judge and everyone else working on the offensive side of the ball.
“There is zero chance he did that without reason… he’s talking to somebody”
@Teddyjradio & @AlbertBreer weigh in on Bill Belichick’s admission that opponents knew Patriots’ plays
Both Johnson and NFL reporter and co-host Albert Breer agreed that Belichick was being purposeful in sharing the information. The question they delved deeper into is who exactly he was talking to with those comments and admission.
“I ran this whole thing by a handful of people who used to work (in New England) over the last couple of days,” Breer added on the November 14 segment. “And what every one of them said was: There is zero — zero chance — that he did that without a reason. He’s not talking to the media, he’s talking through the media. So he’s talking to somebody. … The easy guess is Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.”
We don’t know what Belichick’s reasons were for owning up to the info leak, but it does seem unlikely it was a slippage of the tongue or even an uncalculated instance of sharing.
As if a Patriots-Jets matchup didn’t already carry enough intrigue with both teams trying to keep pace in an AFC East division with all four teams above .500 through 10 weeks, Belichick’s comments add another layer to the Week 11 rematch.
Around the NFL: Josh Allen ‘Good to Go’ vs. Browns
The Buffalo Bills will be looking to rebound from a tough loss in a great game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. Thankfully for them, Buffalo will have their quarterback Josh Allen on the field without an injury designation for the Week 11 clash with the Cleveland Browns, per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.
Bills QB Josh Allen (elbow) with no injury status for Sunday so he’s good to go vs. Browns in Detroit. No suspense leading up to game time.
Safety Jordan Poyer (elbow) would’ve been a full participant in practice today and there’s some optimism he will be good to return Sunday.
Allen had an elbow injury that had him questionable ahead of Buffalo’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Vikings. Allen still threw for 330 yards and a TD with 2 costly interceptions. Buffalo is heavily favored to bounce back against the 3-6 Browns, who are coming off a 39-17 blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 10.
Around the NFL: Chiefs Will Be Without Several WRs on Sunday
Patrick Mahomes may have to pull a rabbit out of a hat on Sunday’s Week 11 contest against the division rival Los Angeles Chargers. The Kansas City Chiefs will be without JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, with the latter heading to injured reserve, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Chiefs ruled out WR JuJu Smith-Schuster for Sunday night’s game in LA; also down Mecole Hardman, who was placed on IR.
Mahomes will still have all-world tight end Travis Kelce and the newly acquired Kadarius Toney, but the absence of Smith-Schuster and Hardman is still noteworthy.
Mahomes leads the NFL in passing yards with 2,936 on 245 completions. Smith-Schuster and Hardman have caught a combined 71 of those passes for 912 yards. The two men have also accounted for 6 of Mahomes’ 25 touchdown passes through 10 weeks.
It’s the perfect week for Toney and perhaps rookie Skyy Moore to step up.
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‘Zero Chance’ Bill Belichick Wasn’t ‘Calling Out’ Assistants During Bye, Says Analyst