The saga involving the New England Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones continues to generate headlines.
Per Andrew Crane of the New York Post and Dakota Randall of NESN, analyst Chris Simms reported during a recent edition of the “Pro Football Talk Live” program that Jones went behind Belichick’s back in an attempt to fix New England’s struggling offense this past fall.
“Mac Jones wasn’t happy,” Simms explained. “He was telling people he wasn’t happy. He was calling people about, ‘Hey, can you help us with ideas and do stuff like that?’ From my understanding, Belichick found out all these things. He found out that Mac was talking to people, and all this, and there was some back-channel conversations going on behind Belichick’s back. And I think that’s where it did get personal.”
PFT’s Mike Florio added that “Belichick made Mac Jones aware” and essentially put an end to such conversations.
Jones looked out of sorts as far back as the preseason while working with assistant coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, and the 24-year-old then suffered a reported high-ankle sprain in Week 3. It was later said that Jones went against the club’s advice to have surgery and instead rehabbed the injury.
By December, Jones had stopped trying to hide his frustrations with the offensive scheme during games. New England ultimately missed the playoffs, and ESPN stats show he ended the season ranked 28th out of 31 qualified players with a 35.9 total QBR.
Earlier this week, Belichick refused to commit to keeping Jones as his QB1 through the offseason. It was subsequently reported that Jones “has universal support in the locker room” and that Belichick may have rubbed some Patriots players the wrong way by suggesting he isn’t all-in on the first-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft.
Belichick is expected to make changes to his staff following a disappointing campaign, but one wonders if he’ll also need to work to repair some relationships before training camp opens.
