There have been a lot of wild reports floating around this week regarding the relationship between Bill Belichick and Mac Jones, with Mike Florio even reporting that Belichick has spent time this offseason shopping his young QB to other teams. The Patriots were even rumored to be one of the teams interested in trading for Ravens star QB Lamar Jackson, but nothing of the sort has come to fruition.
At the crux of the issue is the relationship between Belichick and Jones and the rumors of how frayed it maybe has become in the wake of how last season went. To revisit, Belichick surrounded Jones with below average personnel and a staff who were not capable of doing the job, Mac’s on field antics and body language were extremely poor when it (predictably) was a disaster, and there is even now reports that Jones may have gone outside the organization for advice on the situation, something that Belichick would have seen as a cardinal sin.
It’s a truly fascinating situation and one that cannot be described as anything less than a complete and utter mess, but I tend to believe it is still entirely salvageable. The Patriots brought in Bill O’Brien as the new offensive coordinator, presumably to promote the strengths of Jones and mask the weaknesses. The weapons are perhaps slightly improved with still the draft to go, but in my opinion, last season’s issues on offense were way more about coaching than anything else.
When the rumor mill gets going, it can often spin out of control quickly. Many reporters other than Florio denied the claims that New England was actively shopping Jones this offseason, with the reality of the situation likely being somewhere in the middle. Nobody was happy with how things went this offseason, and Belichick is always looking to get better. I believe that better coaching and putting Jones in a better situation to succeed, with the knowledge on Jones’ part that he must perform better as well, will yield much more positive results on offense for the Patriots.
Robert Kraft is tired of having a football team that is not competing in the AFC. Both Bill Belichick and Mac Jones are entering a defining year this season, and both must perform, otherwise changes will be made.
