Sunday Patriots Notes: West Coast offense may bring beneficial change

Notes and thoughts on the Patriots and the rest of the NFL.

A busy offseason for the New England Patriots rolls on. Make sure to check out our Sunday Patriots Notes to stay up to date with all things not covered elsewhere on Pats Pulpit.

1. West Coast success: The Patriots offense is expected to look different with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt running the show in 2024. While time will tell exactly how that looks, the expectation — based on the coordinators past — is a more West Coast approach.

That is encouraging for one Patriot receiver.

“I love the West Coast offense,” Kendrick Bourne, who played in a West Coast scheme in San Francisco before arriving in New England, told NBC Sports Boston. “I’m excited for that. I think it might be a good change for what we need. Maybe something different, something we’ve never done before. Learning new terminology and new ways to do things might help us. Not sure, but I think that’s something different that we might need. So, I like the hire.”

Bourne had a career-year in his first season in New England in 2021 and was on his way to surpassing those numbers this season before he suffered a torn ACL in Week 8. But, the receiver’s successful work in San Francisco’s offense was what led to the Patriots inking him to a three-year, $15 million contract back in 2021 free agency.

“I was very successful in the West Coast [system],” the soon-to-be free agent said. “It worked for me, personally, and I think it will work for some players. I like both systems, but just whatever works for most of the team I think will make us better.”

No matter the system, the main question the Patriots must solve this offseason is which quarterback will be running it.

Bourne, however, still isn’t ruling out Mac Jones, who currently remains under contract with the team.

“I think he’s the same player, it just has to be pulled out of him,” Bourne said. “I think he can do it here… I love the person he is. He has it in him and I think he just has to work for it. Everybody has to work hard — you have to earn it. We all have those times where it gets hard, and you might lack, but how do you fix it? How do you learn from your down year? How do you learn from what your mistakes were? So, I think he can do it. I hope he can do it, I would love to be playing with him again.”

Deciding what to do with Jones and the rest of the quarterback room will be the biggest decision the Patriots’ new brass must make this offseason. And while Matthew Judon won’t be apart of that decision, he hopes the result is someone who can simply lead scoring drives.

“I just want our offense to score points. Our offense to score points, sustain drives,” Judon told 98.5 the Sports Hub. “Regardless if that’s Mac, [Bailey] Zappe, somebody else, I don’t care. I think both Mac and Zappe have the talent to do it, they just have to do it. That’s going to be up to them.”

2. Dialing up the aggression: While plenty of change is expected on the offensive side of the ball, things are expected to remain relatively the same with Jerod Mayo, DeMarcus Covington, and much of the defensive staff remaining in tact. However, one change could be a more aggressive unit in 2024.

“I think we’re going to play a little more aggressive, but I don’t know,” Matthew Judon said on the Sports Hub. “I don’t think it’s going to be different terminology — Mayo’s been there forever — but I think it’s going to be a different playbook because it’s a different person calling the calls. I think Mayo’s going to want to run his stuff and put his own uniqueness, and [Covington’s] going to want to run his stuff and put his spin on things.”

As for what the more aggressive approach might mean:

“I think we see a lot of defenses now, they kind of attack,” Judon continued. “And they attack either tackles, or guards, or centers, and kind of pick on them. If we can attack, force quarterbacks off their spot and make them uncomfortable by attacking them I’d love to do that.”

3. No guarantee: It’s yet to be determined if Judon will even be apart of that more aggressive unit in 2024, as the 31-year-old enters the final year of his contract with no guaranteed money remaining. That’s due to an unofficial “hold-in” last summer that saw the Patriots maneuver money from 2024 to raise his 2023 salary.

Judon, who shared he’s “fully functional” following a biceps surgery that ended his previous season prematurely, was asked about his current deal on 98.5 the Sports Hub.

“I’m happy that I’m still able to play football,” he replied. “Numbers, I’ll let my agent and Matt [Groh] or whoever is figuring that out – and we’ll go on by that. But I think the best thing about the game is playing it and being a part of it, and that’s what that’s what I want to do.”

“This game is a business. It’s a business,” Judon added. “I just want to play the game, but I also have to win at the business aspect. … They say they want me there. I want to be there, but like I said, business is business.”

4. Wolf’s Pack: If Judon is indeed looking for a new contract, he might end up at the negotiating table with Eliot Wolf. All signs in recent weeks have pointed to Wolf running the personnel side of things for the Patriots, which was essentially confirmed throughout the week.

Wolf added to the personnel department as well this week, bringing on former colleague Alonzo Highsmith from the University of Miami. Highsmith will join a unit led by Wolf, Matt Groh, and Patrick Stewart — a group that likely will all see new titles this offseason.

As for other names to know in the front office, the Patriots social media team shared a video from the Senior Bowl that included national scouts Tony Kinkela and Matt Evans, as well as area scouts J.T. Hill, Justin Hickman, Taylor Redd, and Josh Hinch.

5. Highsmith’s role: During his two-year tenure at his alma-mater, Alonzo Highsmith played a big role in evaluating prospects and potential transfers for the University of Miami — who signed back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes. That familiarity could be useful for New England during draft season, especially as he got a first-hand look at top quarterback prospect Drake Maye in two matchups against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

6. Thrown into the fire: If the Patriots do end up selecting a rookie quarterback, they will eventually be forced to make a decision: start him on day one, or let him sit and learn. Tom Brady, who sat behind Drew Bledsoe to start his career, votes for the latter.

“We’re asking so many young players… ’Alright, we’re gonna draft you and then we’re gonna play you,’” the quarterback said on his ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast. “It’s not a great way to do it. We’re almost prematurely forcing guys out there to play”

Brady went on to mention Aaron Rodgers, Phillip Rivers, and Drew Brees as quarterbacks in his time that benefitted from sitting. Most recently, Patrick Mahomes sat for his first year while Jordan Love didn’t see a full-time starting opportunity until year four — which cornerback Jonathan Jones took notice of.

“I’m always a fan of team’s sitting quarterbacks young,” Jones explained to NBC Sports Boston. “I think it’s an important position that you get to sit back and develop. You look at the teams, Green Bay has done it consistently. You look up and you’re like ’They don’t have a quarterback problem.’ Well, they brought a guy in that they knew had the caliber, sit him for a couple years, and by the time it’s his turn he’s made all his mistakes on the practice field so no one got to judge him for it.

“No one got to see the dumb mistakes that he made during practice because you come in and correct it and he gets better from that. Where when you throw him out there to the wolves… the world is going to judge his performance and it’s hard for him to keep that consistency.”

7. Jacoby Reunion: The Patriots could look to add a veteran to their remodeled quarterback room this offseason, and a reunion with Jacoby Brissett would certainly make sense. Brissett, who was drafted by the team in 2016, played under Alex Van Pelt in Cleveland and enjoyed his time with the coach.

“A lot of the things I’ve heard about some of the people they’ve hired has been: They’re good people, they’re overall people that players love, players went to, players sought out,” Devin McCourty shared on WEEI. “Even Van Pelt, I talked to Jacoby Brissett and that was one of the things he said he was like, ‘He’s really good with quarterbacks,’ he enjoyed his time. So I think that’s a big part.”

8. Wise Honor: Patriots captain Deatrich Wise Jr. was inducted into the Hebron High School Hall of Fame on Friday. Wise was a 2012 graduate of Hebron where he played linebacker for the Hawks. He was honored at a halftime ceremony during the school’s basketball game.

9. New Rep: Patriots wide receiver Tyquan Thornton has new representation as he enters the offseason, signing with the Disruptive Sports agency — who also represents Kendrick Bourne. It comes as Thornton enters the third-year of his rookie deal that features no more guaranteed money.

10. Super Bowl Sunday: Infamously winning seven Super Bowl titles despite being drafted at pick No. 199, Tom Brady is among the lowest-drafted quarterbacks to start and win a Super Bowl. New company could join the list this weekend, as Brock Purdy (pick No. 262) can become the lowest-drafted quarterback ever to start and win a Super Bowl.

Despite Purdy potentially bumping Brady out of the top five lowest-drafted starting quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl — as Brad Johnson (9th round, 227th pick), David Woodley (8, 214), Joe Kapp (18, 209), and Bart Starr (17, 200) sit above — Patriots fans will be rooting for him Sunday.

According to SB Nation’s latest Reacts survey, 86 percent of participants are backing Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers. However, the consensus believes that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will ultimately prevail.

11. Setting up the week ahead: Once Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, the entire NFL will be in offseason mode and starting preparations for the 2024 season. For New England, the main focus this week — besides preparing for free agency and the draft — will be on filling the few remaining spots on the coaching staff.

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