Bill Belichick Says Patriots 'Going Through a Process' to Pick Offensive Playcaller

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said no decision has been made about the team's offensive play-caller after Matt Patricia and Joe Judge split the duties in Thursday's 23-21 preseason loss to the New York Giants.

"We did a lot of things in this game that are going to be beneficial in the long run, whether it was on the coaching staff, playing time, players that played and so forth," Belichick told reporters. "That's all part of the process."

He said the Pats will "work it out," adding: "We're going through a process. Just like everything else on this team."

Even for a tight-lipped organization like the Patriots, it's rare to reach this stage of preparations for a new season with a key decision like who's going to call the plays unsettled.

The opening came available when offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left the team in late January to take over as the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach. Nearly seven months later his shoes still haven't been totally filled.

Belichick didn't see any major issues with the rotating play-callers on Thursday night.

"I didn't think [it] was a problem," he said. "... I thought we were on the ball quickly, had plenty of time to operate. We had to audible a few times and were able to do that. There's plenty of room for improvement. I'm not saying we're there yet, but getting there."

The situation probably wouldn't be such a major storyline if the offense was playing at a high level throughout training camp, but that hasn't been the case.

Second-year quarterback Mac Jones and the rest of the unit have struggled, raising concerns after the signal-caller's strong rookie campaign.

Jones didn't take the field for the preseason opener, so it wasn't possible to see whether the first-team offense has been making some positive strides, but the reserves tallied a modest 308 total yards.

It's unclear whether the top offensive coaching role is a true competition between Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, two former NFL head coaches, or if the Pats are going to share the responsibility all year.

The next chance for them to impress will come next Friday when New England hosts the Carolina Panthers in its second of three exhibition contests.