The New England Patriots had Bill Belichick at the helm for 24 years, and for most of that time their defense remained pretty much the same, with a few tweaks here and there.
When Brian Flores was running the defense (without the title of defensive coordinator) in 2018, New England seemed to increase the pressure on opposing offenses more than it had in other seasons under Matt Patricia, but the defense took a step back during the Steve Belichick/Jerod Mayo days (2019-23).
However, with Mayo leading the team and DeMarcus Covington promoted from defensive line coach to coordinator, New England is adding new wrinkles.
Interview with Andrew Callahan of the Boston HeraldPatriots cornerback Jonathan Jones said every year he asks, “Are we doing something new?”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case until this year when cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino replied, “Yes, actually. We are.”
According to Callahan, Covington and his defense have installed a pressure system that he borrowed from Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike McDonald, who New England will face Sunday.
“It’s like a deep ball for the defense,” Jones said. “It’s like, ‘I’ve got to make a play here.’” “It’s just one of those things the Ravens do with pressure. And I would say — how do you say this, right? Ah, I’ll save that for the end of the year.”
This package strayed from things Belichick would normally do on defense, and Jones doesn’t think it would have been added if coaching changes hadn’t been made.
“It’s definitely something I don’t think he would have implemented,” Jones said. “It’s definitely new.”
As McDonald faces the Patriots this week with his new team, it will be interesting to see how much, if at all, they use him.
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