Of all the teams, the New England Patriots shouldn’t panic too much about what’s going on in the preseason. They don’t even panic about what happens in September most seasons. But for a team heavily scrutinized for its offensive playmaking with questionable coordinator decisions, Friday night was worrisome. The Patriots played most of their starters in the preseason finale at the Las Vegas Raiders. Mac Jones, DeVante Parker and Hunter Henry were among those who took snaps. They played against a Raiders defense that didn’t use a lock-down starter. It was backup Patriots starters vs. Raiders, for the most part. Through four series, the Patriots’ starting offense was punt, interception, punt, field goal. Both hits came after three-and-outs. The Patriots had 94 yards after about 20 minutes of football. The Patriots trailed 13-3 midway through the second quarter when Jones and the rest of the starting offense were pulled from the game. In a normal preseason, this wouldn’t be worth worrying about. It’s not ideal to see the starters struggle against the backups, but it’s the preseason. However, the story surrounding the Patriots, pretty much since Josh McDaniels left his position as New England’s offensive coordinator to become the Raiders’ head coach, has been about the odd succession plan on the coaching staff. Friday night’s flop will increase the pressure. Bill Belichick hasn’t talked much about the offensive coordinator situation, but it’s been some combination of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Neither has been an offensive coordinator. Patricia’s last job with the Patriots, before an unsuccessful stint as coach of the Detroit Lions, was defensive coordinator. Patriots reporters were trying to figure out how the work is divided. Belichick has done unconventional things in the past, and they usually work. Maybe this too. But Friday night was not a good show. Jones finished 9 of 13 for 71 yards and a bad interception. Jones stepped into the pocket and never saw linebacker Luke Masterson sitting in coverage underneath. He threw it right at Masterson. The story continues Jones was also sacked twice. There have been many reports from Patriots camp that the offensive line has struggled. Maybe we’ll look up in October and November and realize that reports of the Patriots’ offensive struggles were exaggerated. It’s not like New England hasn’t made premature reports of its demise look silly before. But on Friday night, at the end of a restless August, it didn’t look too good for the offense.
