The New England Patriots seem fully committed to Mac Jones heading into the quarterback’s third NFL season, but apparently Bill Belichick is not willing to admit that publicly.
Belichick spoke with reporters for nearly 30 minutes at the annual AFC coaches breakfast in Arizona earlier this week. He was asked several questions about Jones, including whether the former Alabama star will have to compete with Bailey Zappe this summer for a starting job. The 70-year-old’s response sounded closer to a “yes” than a “no.”
“Everybody will get a chance to play. We’ll play the best players,” Belichick said, via Chris Mason of MassLive.com.
That, of course, led to some follow-up questions about Jones’ job security. Belichick stopped well short of saying Jones is QB1.
“Every position. Everybody will get a chance to play. Everybody that’s on our roster, if they earn the opportunity to play, then based on what they do in practice and all that, then they’ll get an opportunity to play,” Belichick added. “Certainly veteran players that have been on the team before, if they’re still on the team, they’ll all get an opportunity to play.”
Zappe seemed to give New England a spark last season when he played in place of an injured Jones. One former Patriots player even admitted recently that there was a divide in the locker room over which quarterback should start.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft seemed to send a message to Belichick recently when talking about Jones. Barring something unexpected, all signs point to Jones getting one more chance to prove he is the right man for the job in New England. If he struggles with Bill O’Brien the same way he did under Matt Patricia, his future with the Patriots will become a lot more cloudy.
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