Patriots’ offense struggles with new scheme at camp

With rotating voices in offensive play-calling, Patriots’ Mac Jones and the offense have struggled to maintain consistency in training camp.

When New England returned to Foxboro for training camp last week, the offense came out swinging, exciting those who were most skeptical.

But since that very first practice, they have inconsistently performed and look disjointed as a unit.

It’s clear the new system Bill Belichick and co. are putting together this season is taking time for the players to adjust to. Mac Jones has shown his frustration at the end of practices and expressed that when questioned by the media.

On Tuesday, when asked about learning the new playbook, Jones mentioned the offense has “a lot of room to grow” while also crediting the offensive line for doing a good job so far. He emphasized the need for all to get “get on the same page” as they move forward and feels they can do just that.

When asked about how it feels at the end of a practice when the defense was completely dominant once again, Jones said it feels “like a shot in the heart” and compared it to losing a game.

But in true Patriots fashion, Jones is forever the optimist;

The growing pains will continue, as it is still very early in the training camp process. But concerns have begun to arise as the offense continues to flounder.

What did the offense look like on day five of training camp?

The team continued its usual drills and a few receivers stood out amongst the rest once again. In Tuesday’s practice, Nelson Agholor made a few stand-out catches.

With many believing his position on the roster may have been put in jeopardy due to the addition of DeVante Parker and the drafting of Tyquan Thornton, Agholor has had an impressive camp thus far and has shown he can be a reliable deep-threat target for Jones.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, although Jones gave praise to his offensive line post-practice, they were lackluster throughout the day.

During 11-on-11’s with the starting offense vs the starting defense, the line provided little to no protection to Jones or the running backs.

Only the second practice of the season in pads, the Patriots’ offense has a lot of work to do. The implementation of a completely new system and playbook will continue to be difficult to learn and adjust to, but there’s still plenty of time to get it figured out this preseason.