Patriots' tight ends taking center stage for Mac Jones, Bill O'Brien

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completed eight of his first nine passes of Monday's minicamp practice to his tight ends, Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.

And we're not just talking about check-downs. Jones, Hunter and Gesicki were able to stretch the field.

These three powered the team's offense for the majority of practice, starting with their opening drive in 7-on-7 drills and continuing into 11-on-11 work. The tight ends appear to be a significant part of the team's plan on offense.

Their position group was the first one Jones referenced when asked about the team contacting free-agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who will reportedly meet with New England on Tuesday.

"Obviously, we'd love to have him, but we do have a great group of guys," Jones said Monday after practice at Gillette Stadium. "We've come out here and really bought into the system and that'll really show in training camp. … I've been really pleased with the tight ends, running backs and all the receivers."

It doesn't feel coincidental that Jones referenced his tight ends first, even when asked about a receiver.

Bill Belichick seems to be building an offense in a way that has eluded him for a long time. He's building around his tight ends. 

The Patriots coach last built around a pair of tight ends in 2011 when Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were in the same offense. (That offense fell apart when Hernandez was arrested for murder allegations and later found guilty.) Belichick has tried to replicate the schematic success they had with those two players — but the personnel has never come together.

It has felt a bit like Belichick's white whale. He has tried and failed a few times to capture it.

Back in 2016 and 2017, Martellus Bennett and Gronkowski were on the same roster — but because of injuries, they rarely played on the field together. The two-tight-end sets never came together. In 2020, Belichick gave huge contracts to Henry and Jonnu Smith, and while Henry thrived, Smith struggled enormously. They never figured out how to play together. The team released Smith this offseason, after paying him $26 million for a total of 55 catches, 539 yards and a touchdown over two years.

And while the Henry-Smith tandem didn't work out, maybe this Gesicki-Henry version will. So far, so good. Gesicki and Henry have spent a lot of time on the field with Jones during team drills this spring.

"Those two are going to work as a pair," Jones said last week of his two top tight ends.

Gesicki, who spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Dolphins, signed a one-year contract with New England worth up to $9 million, with half of that value in incentives.

He fell out of favor in Miami after coach Mike McDaniel struggled to use Gesicki in the Dolphins' revamped offense last year. Given that he is a pass-catching tight end, Gesicki ended up lost in McDaniel's system, which requires its tight ends to do a lot of blocking. So this season is a reclamation opportunity for Belichick and Gesicki after the worst season of the tight end's career in 2022.

So what's working for the new guy?

"Watching him go against some guys as an opponent is really cool to see. He would make some plays one-on-one, and down the field, and all that stuff. You can definitely see that translate to here," Jones said. "Mike definitely has playmaking ability. He's a smart football player, and I'm just excited to work with him."

It confirms what we could have imagined when the Patriots hired their new offensive coordinator, Bill O'Brien. The last time he ran an offense in New England, he was the guy calling plays for Gronk and Hernandez in 2011.

"The beauty of this offense and what Coach O'Brien's been so successful doing, is understanding everybody's strengths and weaknesses and what guys do better," Gesicki told reporters last week. "That's the position that he puts them in. So it's been really good. It's been a good offseason."

With receivers Tyquan Thornton and JuJu Smith-Schuster sidelined during Monday's minicamp session, the Patriots kept the following unit together for team drills: Gesicki, Henry, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Rhamondre Stevenson.

It has just been a few practices open to the media, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves and proclaim this New England's surefire identity. The offense could change when Smith Schuster and Thornton return to the field. In the meantime, the Patriots are clearly favoring two-tight-end sets. And it's working. 

Jones completed his best pass of the day to Henry on a 30-yard deep crosser in 11-on-11 drills. Safety Jalen Mills was in tight coverage, but Jones dropped in the ball just beyond Mills' hands. Henry snagged it and picked up a few yards after the catch. Even in a session where the players were in T-shirts and shorts, the pinpoint pass was noteworthy.

"Everybody's bought into how he coaches, and he has a lot of energy," Gesicki said of O'Brien. "It's been really cool to see that first-hand and be a part of it. The guys are excited to come out here each and every day, and I think a lot of that is credited to him and how he leads the room and how guys want to play for him."

Jones and Gesicki each used the same term: buy-in. 

The unit is buying into O'Brien's leadership, playbook and coaching. They're buying into what the Patriots are trying to do on offense. That's notable given the lack of buy-in in New England under Matt Patricia last year.

And maybe we're beginning to see the Patriots find out what they're good at — and who they can trust in the passing game. Last year, it was Jakobi Meyers, who is now with the Las Vegas Raiders. And, frankly, he seemed to struggle under the weight of carrying the entire passing offense. It wasn't just about replacing him, which the team seemed to do with Smith-Schuster. It's about improving the offense to avoid more calamity like last year.

So with Henry and Gesicki, the Patriots might be onto something. And if it works when the pads go on in August, Belichick might finally catch that schematic white whale.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.