Jonathan Kraft’s screen time during the Patriots-Cardinals game this past Sunday caused more drama around the team.
Kraft was caught on camera by the CBS broadcast with pen and paper in hand during a Patriots offensive series in the second quarter. Kraft, who was sitting alongside Patriots owner and father Robert Kraft, appeared frustrated with how things were going and lip-readers believed he called the Patriots offensive play-calling “terrible.”
Head coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt had to answer questions about Jonathan Kraft’s actions this week as rumors swirled about Mayo and Van Pelt’s job security.
Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Girardi looked to provide more context to Kraft’s note-taking, but Girardi even expressed skepticism about the information he received.
“I was told that he was taking notes and it had nothing to do with football,” Girardi said Friday on WEEI. “Now, I’m just telling you what I was told. I’m not telling you I believe what I was told. But that’s what I was told.”
It’s hard to imagine Kraft doing anything else but jotting down notes about the game. What he did with those notes and if he’s trying to give suggestions about play-calling is a completely different story.
It definitely seems like Kraft took on a bigger role since Bill Belichick’s firing. The Athletic’s Diana Russini reported that Kraft was “heavily involved in the decision-making” when it came to New England potentially trading its No. 3 pick back in April.
And as Girardi pointed out, an owner — or in this case a son of an owner who holds the title of Patriots president — meddling in football decisions is never a good thing.
“I’m sorry but there’s not one owner in the National Football League, not even Jerry Jones who played college football — and I’m talking the real owners not the 2% owners like Tom Brady — who played the game and know what they’re talking about,” Girardi said. “They’re fans. They’re rich fans and they have plenty of influence and power. But that doesn’t mean you know what you’re looking at or talking about.”
