Last week, Patriots coach Bill Belichick downplayed the impact that former New England quarterback Kevin O'Connell might have in helping the Jets prepare for Sunday's game.
Writes Glazer, "Sources said while the former Patriot QB was revealing in helping with tendencies of different players and schemes, he was most helpful in revealing the tendencies the Patriots use to adjust against different blitz packages the Jets will try to employ. Basically, he's able to say, 'Hey, when you use this blitz they like to check it over here. When you use that blitz their tendency will be to use this guy, here.'"
The Patriots, perhaps with O'Connell in mind, went almost exclusively with a no-huddle attack in Sunday's game. They also altered their overall communication, with all skill-position players wearing wristbands with the plays and coaches using grease-boards to signal in the necessary Xs and Os information from the sideline.
O'Connell was named one of the Jets' game captains selected by Jets coach Rex Ryan.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked about O'Connell during his regularly scheduled Monday radio interview on WEEIs "Dennis & Callahan" program.
"I don't think it came down to what Kevin told them or didn't tell them," he said. "I think it came down to the way we executed, and as an offense, our failure to get the ball in the end zone. We had opportunities that were there that we didn't take advantage of. That's the frustrating part of it.
"They don't know what play is called. We have a bunch of different protections and we have a bunch of different blitz beaters, and unless you know what play is called at that time, you're not going to know how we're adjusting to the blitz. We do that in a multitude of ways. You can go in there and say 'On this play, this is what they do.' But that is always in hindsight, that's him looking at the play. We could line up in a different formation and then it's different. Most teams do it the exact same way. It's not hard to study film and figure out how you pick up the blitz. I don't think that's something that is a big mystery."
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Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss first started covering the Patriots in 1997 with the team's official newspaper, Patriots Football Weekly, before moving on to the MetroWest Daily News in his hometown of Framingham. From 2005 to 2009, he covered the Patriots for The Boston Globe, while also writing on the NFL. He started his popular Patriots blog in 2004. Send any questions or comments for Mike to his mailbag. Follow him on Twitter here.
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