Patriots Rumors: Players Concerned with Direction of Offensive Coaching Staff

New England Patriots players have reportedly started to question the direction of the team's offensive coaching staff following the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who left to become the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach.

Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal reported Wednesday on his podcast (via NESN's Dakota Randall) that he's hearing concerns ahead of the 2022 NFL season.

"I've heard from people in the last couple days about what's going on with the offensive coaching staff," Bedard said. "And the initial reports I'm getting back are not good at all. And that includes what they're hearing from the players internally. It's not going in a good direction."

New England head coach Bill Belichick hasn't identified a coordinator replacement for McDaniels or, if that role will remain vacant, named an offensive play-caller.

The Pats' coaches include former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia and longtime Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown, who retired in 2007 and joined the staff in 2020, among others.

Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire reported last week the team may even hold a play-calling competition throughout training camp, with Judge and Patricia as the early favorites.

The players have also remained coy about the direction of the offense, as illustrated in comments from dual-threat playmaker Ty Montgomery, who signed with New England in March.

"I consider myself an employee of the New England Patriots," Montgomery told reporters Thursday. "And whatever they ask me is what I'm going to do."

Belichick has never been forthcoming with information, but it seems his latest effort to keep opponents guessing has also left his players feeling uncertain.

That's not ideal as the Patriots attempt to put quarterback Mac Jones in position to take a step forward in his second NFL season.

Jones was solid as a rookie, completing 67.6 percent of his throws for 3,801 yards while playing all 17 games, but he has room for improvement after he tossed just 22 touchdowns.

It may be a few more months before fans get an idea of how the Patriots offense will look in 2022.