Tension lingers between Bill Belichick, Mac Jones
After the 2022 season ended, Patriots coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t commit to Mac Jones as the starting quarterback. Last week, Belichick made it clear that Jones and Bailey Zappe will each have a chance to play in 2023.
At a deeper level, there’s dysfunction between Belichick and Jones.
It started with Jones being on the wrong side of the failed experiment to replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with, well, not an offensive coordinator. As Chris Simms explained on Monday’s PFT Live, Jones actually started calling members of the Alabama coaching staff in order to get some information as to how to properly run the offense under long-time defensive coach Matt Patricia.
“That really pissed Bill off,” Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston said Monday on WEEI.
It also pissed Mac off to be the guinea pig for Belichick’s unrestrained hubris.
Curran also explained that Brian Hoyer isn’t with the Patriots any longer in large part because Hoyer wasn’t on board with the offense in 2022.
It bears watching throughout the offseason program and beyond. Will Belichick, who was placed firmly on the hot seat last week by team owner Robert Kraft, go with Jones or Zappe? Will Belichick explore adding another quarterback and perhaps trading Jones to the Raiders?
The current situation doesn’t feel sustainable. It makes sense to watch how long it’s sustained.
Tension lingers between Bill Belichick, Mac Jones originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
