The NFL’s franchise in New England had been spoiled with their consistency at the quarterback position over the 20-year reign of Tom Brady. This season, though, many are wondering if Brady’s eventual successor, Mac Jones, has what it takes to retain his seat atop the depth chart. According to several different sources, his starting job as the Patriots‘ quarterback is safe for now.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to report this morning that the Patriots would be sticking with Jones at quarterback for today’s game against the Saints and that “no change was imminent.” He did mention that second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe, who got about a quarter of the team’s offensive snaps is last week’s blowout loss to the Cowboys, got more practice snaps than usual throughout the week.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated detailed that a lot of the struggles seen with Jones last week were things that have been noticed at practice in New England. He asserts that Jones still has a bit of leeway with the coaching staff, but Jones is going to need to remedy those issues in order to keep it that way.
Even after another blowout loss today that saw Jones pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, head coach Bill Belichick confirmed that Jones will remain the team’s starter, according to Josh Alper of NBC Sports. Belichick reportedly said that “the team will be ‘starting over’ as they move toward next Sunday’s game against the Raiders, but the new start won’t include a new” starter.
Here are a few other rumors out of the AFC East, starting with a new familiar face who recently returned to Massachusetts:
- Recent trade acquisition from the Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson was once a prized free agent addition in Los Angeles after his original stint with the Patriots. But things this year deteriorated to the point that Jackson, who was a healthy scratch for the Chargers in Week 3, was asked to enter the game to fill in for an injured Michael Davis, and he refused to do so, per a joint report from Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Jackson, who had already sustained a serious injury during his time in Los Angeles, knew he had no future with the team and didn’t feel comfortable risking further injury. Additionally, the arrest warrant issued for Jackson in late September for reckless driving has reportedly been lifted, according to David Linton of The Sun Chronicle. Jackson paid the fine and agreed to probation in order to avoid arrest.
- Along with Aaron Rodgers‘ former Green Bay teammates, wide receiver Mecole Hardman was considered a big addition to the Jets‘ receiving corps in the offseason. And despite his once prominent role on the perennial contender in Kansas City, Hardman has been a non-factor in the first five weeks of the season, including his status as a healthy scratch today. Hardman voiced his frustration to ESPN’s Rich Cimini saying, “I’m probably the best in the league in space. Maybe (the coaches) see something different. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. I think when I was in K.C., I proved that I was probably the most dangerous guy on the jet sweep, or whether it be on the end-around or on the screen, I think I proved year-out that I was that guy you had to worry about doing that.”
- Sticking with the Jets, many expected a change to the composition of the quarterbacks room coming into the week. Cimini relayed head coach Robert Saleh‘s assessment that the room was “status quo” today. Tim Boyle remained as Zach Wilson‘s primary backup, while Trevor Siemian stayed down on the practice squad today.
Mac is Bill’s hand picked successor w/ inside details provided by his best friend N Saban.
At some point, please call out Bill.
Belichick has been awful at identifying offensive talent for a while now. Brady bailed him out long enough for it to not be so noticeable. The Patriots offense since 2020 has been atrocious
Hardman’s becoming a diva and that’s why he was a healthy scratch for the Jets’ come-from-behind win at Denver.
As to the Patriots, they were shut out so bad that CBS switched neutral markets to the Steeler game in time for Pittsburgh’s big comeback.
Mac Jones might legitimately be the worst starting QB in the league right now
Have you seen the 2 New York teams play any football this year?
There’s only 1 New York team & they looked like $hit in London
So says someone from a region that didn’t see the Jets defeat Denver.
I have, and I’d still take DJ and Wilson over Mac. That’s not a vote of confidence towards either of those two. That’s an indictment of how bad Mac Jones looks
D. Jones, I get. Wilson though? I don’t know. Mac at least has one year of positive QB play, which we can’t say for Wilson. Either way, this isn’t a good sign to be having this discussion.
Sometimes I wonder if Belichick is purposefully making the decisions that he has on offense in order to be terrible, as if he wants to be fired. Jones doesn’t have much The two Joneses do have similar issues regarding the surrounding talent, though. WR has been an issue in NE since Brady’s last two years and the line has gotten pretty bad. Comparing the success of their past to their current state,, plus that awful Patricia/Judge fiasco, only makes it look worse. Count the Patriots amongst those teams that need to swing big for offensive help this offseason, or it may end up the end of the Belichick era.
Great to see y’all adopt the Mike Lupica Principle of “it’s all about the QB”. Defense helped the Steelers and Jets win on Sunday. Can’t say that for Lupica’s team, the Foxboro Cheatriots.
I have to say that I have trouble understanding your comments.
Lupica is a NYC tabloid writer who reduces a complex sport to simplistic “Dumb Jock” cliches.
There are at least 5 back up QB’s that are better than Mac Jones.
Macs in an impossible position. NE’s offensive line and WR corps are two of the worst units in the league. This is what it looks like when you can’t block or create separation.
Pats schedule this year is brutal.
A “decent” team should be able to go 8-9 with that schedule at the very least. I smell a possible 3-14 for the Pats. And that’s being optimistic.
Three wins and fourteen losses IF they’re lucky.