This preseason, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has stressed the importance of the team’s new offensive line getting playing time with starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It’s so critical that Reid not only put Mahomes on the field for the first exhibition matchup, but said on Monday that he’ll likely get more snaps in the coming week.
The philosophy is a little different in New England.
Cam Newton is the incumbent starting quarterback, though he’s not guaranteed to be behind center for Week One. Mac Jones, this year’s 15th overall pick, has also received some snaps with the first-team offensive line.
Head coach Bill Belichick was asked about how both players have received reps with that group and said that each position group should concentrate on itself, not who is around it.
“Look, we’ve told the players from back in May when we started — which is the absolute truth — not to spend a lot of time worrying about who else is out there with you,” Belichick said, via Zack Cox of NESN. “Worry about what you’re doing and try to get it right. I think that’s the most important thing for each and every one of us, if we would focus on what our job is, how to do it well, how to do it better, how to improve on it. Again, that’s all of us — coaches, players, everybody. That’s really what we’re trying to do, and spending a lot of time worrying about who else is doing something else and who else is out there or not out there or whatever is honestly a total waste of time and energy. And it’s not productive, so we don’t really worry about it.
“I think it’s a lot more important for the offensive linemen to play with the offensive linemen than it is for the quarterback to play with the offensive line. The same thing on defense. It’s [more] important for the linebackers to play with the linebackers than it is for the linebackers to play with the secondary or whatever, and you just keep going. The punt team, those guys need to be ready to work with each other, but at the same time, if somebody else is in there for whatever reason, then the most important thing is for them to do their job properly and work with whoever it is next to them. That’s something they can’t control. If we start worrying about all the things we can’t control, I’d say it’s going to be a long year.”
Really, this is a long way of Belichick explaining the three-word mantra: Do your job. And it makes sense that players shouldn’t worry too much about what they can’t control — especially because they’re not making the decision about the quarterback.
But eventually, everyone is going to want to know who the starting quarterback is. It may be a waste of time and energy to worry about it, but it’s the most vital position on the team. Players wouldn’t be human if that didn’t cross their minds.