The curtain should come down on the Mac Jones era in New England
After three years of increasing futility, Mac Jones isn't the answer for the Patriots, and matters are only growing more dire.
Hello, Patriots fans. Have a seat. Let’s talk. I know, it’s been a tough year, and it looks like it’ll get only tougher. But friends, it’s now time to come to terms with the sunk costs you’ve incurred over the past three seasons. After this season’s ninth loss, an ugly 10-7 mess at the hands of the Giants, it’s time for everyone to come to terms with the changes that are ahead. First, let's stipulate the now-obvious: Mac Jones is not the answer in New England.
Yes, it hurts to start over, but there’s got to be some relief in admitting that, right? Sure, Jones came into New England with a championship pedigree out of Alabama, so it wasn’t tough to make the assumption that he’d pick up where You-Know-Who left off. New England won 10 games in his rookie season and reached the playoffs, and it wasn’t far-fetched to hope that the Patriots had their own version of Favre-to-Rodgers, but with a lot more rings.
I know, this is a strange and unfamiliar feeling for you. You had two decades of the most rock-solid, set-it-and-forget-it reliability at the quarterback position in NFL history, and it’s tough to reconcile the fact that now you’re just like everyone else. But as Sunday showed, Jones’ hold on the starting job was so fragile that he lost it at halftime following an anemic two-INT, one-fumble, zero-points first half.
Earlier this past week, Belichick split reps between Jones and Bailey Zappe 50-50. When pressed about the Patriots’ quarterback situation, Belichick leaned on an on-to-Cincinnati-esque mantra: “I've told everybody to be ready to go.” He repeated those eight words on multiple occasions throughout the week. So Jones wasn’t exactly coming into Sunday bathed in affirmation.
Jones has started 42 regular-season games in his three-season career, and while quarterback wins aren’t the most precise metric, the Patriots are 18-24 in those games. (Totally unfair comparison: Tom Brady didn’t lose his 24th game until the end of his sixth season … and didn’t lose No. 25 until his ninth.) Dig deeper — or, heck, watch a couple Patriots offensive series — and you'll see why.
Through 11-plus weeks of the 2023 season, Jones ranks 21st in the league in touchdowns with 10, but tied for second with 12 interceptions. Jones’ 6.1 yards-per-completion average is more than 3 full yards short of league leader Brock Purdy, and 2 yards short of rookie C.J. Stroud.
Perhaps Jones hasn't had the receivers he needs, the coaching he requires, the offensive coordination necessary to unlock his skills. The reasons, at this point, don't matter; the results are grim and indisputable.
Jones got the nod Sunday against the Giants, and immediately face-planted. New England’s six complete first-half possessions ran like this: punt, punt, interception, punt, interception, punt. Jones threw 21 passes for 89 yards, and technically completed 14 of them — 12 to Patriots, two to Giants. By the time halftime arrived, New England had gone 24 straight drives without a touchdown.
That mark fell with New England’s first drive of the second half. Zappe took over at quarterback, and went 5-for-5 to lead the Patriots to a game-tying touchdown. But soon enough, Zappe regressed too, throwing into triple coverage early in the fourth quarter and hitting the Giants’ Xavier McKinney right in the numbers. The MetLife Stadium PA system played “Oops! … I Did It Again” after the interception, a vicious yet wholly appropriate musical sting.
New York’s Tommy DeVito outplayed both Jones and Zappe, throwing for more yards, more touchdowns (1) and fewer interceptions (0) than the Patriots' duo (3). When an undrafted free agent who made his NFL debut barely a month ago and still lives at home with his parents is outplaying your entire quarterbacks room, changes must come.
"It's a vibe." 🤌
Tommy DeVito talks about everyone's new favorite celebration 😂
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/fXKpqmw5RN— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 26, 2023
Jones’ ongoing futility highlights the fact that there’s another meaning to “I've told everybody to be ready to go,” too — “go” as in “go on out that door.” Belichick isn’t the type to send messages to his players — or anyone else — through the media, but the implication from Sunday’s halftime switch is clear: Nobody has the coach’s confidence right now.
In a typically testy, silence-filled, three-minute-20-second news conference just after the game, Belichick offered nothing in the way of insight into his thinking or hints about the quarterback situation going forward. He answered all queries about the past week with some variant of "We told everyone to be ready to go," and all about the future with "We just finished the game."
At least there’s hope out on the horizon. We’re just a few months away from one of those periodic quarterback-rich drafts. The Bears, through the Panthers, might have the inside track on Caleb Williams, but Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr. wouldn’t be a terrible consolation prize.
Granted, Belichick would rather host a birthday party for a dozen rowdy children than concede that tanking the season might be the best long-term move. And no player on a roster wants to tank; they’ve got pride, to start, and on a wider scale, their careers aren’t long enough that they can just fold on an entire season. But Jones, Belichick and the Patriots are now snared in an ironic web: Playing Mac Jones is the best way to end up in a better position to draft a replacement for Mac Jones.
In the weeks ahead, New England must face the Chiefs, Bills, surging Broncos, and the possibly-Aaron-Rodgers-led-but-always-motivated-to-beat-Belichick Jets. There’s a real chance that New England will be able to count its 2023 wins on one hand … but Patriots fans will need only one finger to sum up this season.
