Insider offers massive update on two key Patriots players

Quarterback Mac Jones appears cemented atop the New England Patriots' depth chart heading into training camp. 

For a piece published Monday, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote that "Jones sure looks like he's the Patriots' starter" as of the first full week of June. 

Breer previously suggested head coach Bill Belichick would make Jones compete with 2022 rookie Bailey Zappe this summer after the 2021 first-round draft pick experienced a rocky sophomore NFL season. On Monday, though, Breer noted that Jones "was with the first group in just about every drill" throughout voluntary organized team activities. Breer added that the path to Zappe overtaking Jones "is very, very narrow—mostly in that it looks like he’ll have fewer opportunities than Jones, which means Zappe will have to absolutely crush it with those opportunities to create a real summer QB derby." 

Belichick may or may not have "shopped" Jones following the 2022 season and after the 24-year-old allegedly upset his coach by seeking help from individuals outside the organization when the New England offense was struggling during the campaign. While Zappe said in April he was ready to compete for the starting job, it was reported as recently as ahead of this past weekend that Jones has impressed coaches working under new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien during the spring. 

"As for any lingering issues between Jones and Belichick, it was far harder to ascertain whether the needle’s moved much on that relationship at all," Breer acknowledged. Breer also said Belichick is "mostly delegating all things offense" to O’Brien similar to how things worked when current Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels served as New England's offensive coordinator. 

By all accounts, the Patriots never made a serious move for an available quarterback such as Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson or Aaron Rodgers now of the New York Jets. Barring Zappe flipping a figurative switch en route to looking like Tom Brady this summer, Jones seems to have already won a battle that never really began in the first place. 

"This is very clearly Jones' job to lose," Breer said.