Patriots: 3 reasons why the offensive line has struggled thus far in camp

Posted By on August 9, 2022

Image courtesy of USA Today

It is no secret that the Patriots offensive line has struggled in training camp thus far. It is seemingly the topic of conversation at every practice especially yesterday’s. They struggled mightily.

So why are they struggling? Well, there are three reasons.

1. New position coaches in Matt Patricia and Billy Yates: As someone who has coached offensive line, I know how hard it is to get acclimated to coaching fundamentals and blocking schemes to a new group of players. It takes time to get them to a place where they are comfortable with you and the scheme. We’ve seen that thus far. This group has struggled through two weeks because Patricia and Yates are new voices and they are not comfortable running as much zone has they have thus far.

2, Emphasis on the zone running game: The Patriots are emphasizing the zone running game more. They have been running more inside and outside zone in camp than they have in recent years. They have run zone in the past so don’t get caught up in the new offense nonsense.

What has changed is some of their terminology and they have incorporated some Shanahan principles to their zone running game but the offense is still the same.The fact that people outside the organization are insisting that this is a new offense is ludicrous.

Outside zone as run by the 49ers and Patriots.

3. Protection call changes: The Patriots have changed the way they call their protections and the terms they use. Both quarterback Mac Jones and the offensive line have struggled with the changes so far. The struggles have led to breakdowns in protection which has led Jones to flee the pocket and run more than we’re accustomed to.

Jones acknowledged today that there are times the offensive line can do a better job of providing a cleaner pocket and there are times he can get the ball out quicker. He says it is a work in progress and that he and the line will grow together.

He’s right. It is a work in progress. Players on the offensive side of the ball as a whole are trying to adjust to new coaches and play callers. Couple that with a shift in philosophy in the run game and you see why the Patriots have looked as bad as they have offensively so far in camp.

The offense looked better today especially the running game but they need to make more tangible progress moving forward. Time is running out and if they don’t figure things out in the three weeks, it will be too late.