New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been notorious for doing whatever he can to help his team gain an edge during his 23 years on their sideline. His latest display of gamesmanship is signing former Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback Will Grier off of the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad and onto the Patriots' active roster 10 days prior to to facing the team Grier spent the last two seasons with.
Grier was a beloved player in the Cowboys locker room during his team in Dallas as his standout performance in the team's preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders -- 305 passing yards and two touchdowns on 29 of 35 passing in addition to rushing for 53 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries -- elicited an emotional reaction from teammates and coaches.
"We're always aware of it, those are things we monitor each week, and we know Will knows where a lot of the bones are buried," Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Monday. "We know Zeke [former Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott] does as well. We certainly have more than one hand signal for all of our core concepts. Sometimes, you can use it to your advantage because they think they know what's coming ... and we're smart enough to adjust those things. Everybody does it. You get a player that has been somewhere, and you bring them in to talk to them about certain things. You're very selective about how much you put into it."
Despite Grier likely being used a double agent ahead of the Patriots' Week 4 matchup in Arlington, Texas, Schottenheimer holds no hard feelings toward his former pupil.
I'm excited to see Will, it will be great to see him I'm sure [Grier][ is definitely being interrogated and probably spending a lot of late nights with their defensive coaching staff," said Schottenheimer.
However, the Patriots took offense to their roster move with Grier being labeled as an interrogation, but they did admit they will likely utilize some level of insight from him.
"Interrogating?" Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien said Tuesday. "Schotty is a good guy. I've known Schotty for a long time. I think that's the way it is every week in this league, every year in this league. There's gonna be guys that come into your organization off teams that you're about to play, and it goes both ways. It's always going to happen. At the end of the day, you've got to study film.
"Everybody's going to be on the same page with what we're doing. I've never thought in my years in the league that any of that was a real overriding factor in a win or a loss. It comes down to the players on the field and the coaches putting the players in the right positions to make plays, and that's what we're trying to do. I don't think we're trying to hold a light over anybody and say, 'Tell me what you did on July 20 of 2023.' We're not doing that. We're not interrogating anybody. We're just trying to put together the best game plan we possibly can."
