Bill Belichick’s decision to play both New England quarterbacks in last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears was unconventional, to say the least. And it didn’t work out, with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe both struggling as the Patriots were blown out at home.
Patriots president Jonathan Kraft, however, respected Belichick’s authority to make that call.
“Bill’s sustained success and what he’s achieved is inarguable,” Kraft said on 98.5 The Sports Hub before Sunday’s Patriots-Jets matchup at MetLife Stadium. “So I would start by saying that. As it relates to what happened last week, you had a quarterback in Mac who hadn’t played for whatever it was, three weeks prior, was coming back to a game, and today, because of how the practice rules have changed, you can’t (simulate) — and this is me talking — but I don’t believe you can (simulate) anything close to a game situation in practice. The speed, the lack of people being able to hit you, everything else.
“So I think Mac very much wanted to come back, and Bill and the staff very much wanted Mac back, but it was understood — and I believe both quarterbacks, that’s what I’ve been told, were told before the game — that the situation was going to play out like it was, and it was likely that Mac was going to come back and play in the second half. But I think once the score was the score, as Bill said publicly, it just didn’t make sense.
“Bill’s earned the right to manage the team that way, and if he thought that was the right way to do it, we support that.”
Kraft also called Belichick “the greatest coach that’s ever coached in the NFL and arguably as great of a coach as there’s been in any sport.”
Belichick said Jones, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3, would have a full workload this Sunday against New York — but would not publicly commit to him as New England’s starter in future weeks.
Kraft was asked whether he believes Jones can be a “franchise cornerstone-type quarterback” like the Patriots previously had with Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.
“I certainly hope so,” he replied. “Mac’s played less than a year-and-a-half. … What I will tell you is Drew and then Tom (were) passionate, hard-working guys, respected in the locker room, loved football. You watch Mac Jones work, Mac Jones works just as hard and is just as passionate as those two were.
“So I think we have somebody that loves the game of football. That matters to him. He’s in the building around the clock and cares deeply about it, and in my conversations with him, you see a guy who’s a leader. I know the people in the locker room, the other players, believe that he’s a strong leader and the leader of the team, and that gives you a foundation to be a very good quarterback.”
Though he sees similarities between the three, Kraft believes it’s “unfair” to compare Jones to Brady or Bledsoe at this stage of his career.
“I’m not a football coach,” Kraft said. “… But you look at Mac, and I think it would be unfair after a year-and-a-half to anybody to compare him to (Brady and Bledsoe) with that body of work. But clearly, clearly the raw tools and all the intangible qualities that you want to see are there, absolutely.”
