Former Patriots assistant blasts Mac Jones over Bill Belichick drama

Former New England Patriots assistant Eric Mangini is siding with Bill Belichick regarding any supposed drama involving the head coach and quarterback Mac Jones this offseason. 

"I didn’t love that Mac Jones went outside the building," Mangini said during an appearance on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," as shared by Ricky Doyle of NESN. "That’s not what you do. Tom Brady didn’t go outside the building with as much success as he had. They got into a little bit of a beef later on in his career because he wanted to bring in his own trainer, but this was after, what, six Super Bowls? I don’t love Mac Jones’ approach, and I get why there might be some resentment on Bill’s part." 

Specifically, Mangini was reacting to reports that first surfaced in January claiming that Jones annoyed Belichick by contacting outsiders during the 2022 campaign about ways to improve New England's woeful offense. More recently, it was said that Belichick "shopped" Jones to other teams this offseason, and both longtime Patriots safety Devin McCourty and well-respected sports talk host Dan Patrick stated that Patriots players are "split" between Jones and 2022 rookie QB Bailey Zappe. 

As things stand, Jones and Zappe are on track to compete for the starting job.

Mangini indicated that Jones was never on board with the decision to have assistants Matt Patricia and Joe Judge guide the New England offense last season. Jones didn't hide his frustrations with coaches last season, but Belichick defended the signal-caller for such viral outbursts. 

The Patriots have since hired Bill O'Brien to serve as their new offensive coordinator.

"But I’m guessing there’s more to the story, and there’s probably more than one incident that showed up over the course of that last season," Mangini said about the relationship between Belichick and Jones. 

As Doyle pointed out, Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson is on the non-exclusive franchise tag and waiting for a team to make him an offer he can't refuse. It's unknown if the Ravens would have any interest in landing Jones if the Patriots change their minds about Jackson.