FOXBORO, Mass. — About an hour before Mac Jones stepped to the podium for his first midweek news conference in a month, ESPN’s Field Yates reported Jones will be the Patriots’ starting quarterback Sunday against the New York Jets.
Jones, true to New England’s penchant for being tight-lipped with game-plan info, would not confirm that report. He did, however, say he believes he deserves to be the starter.
“I plan to start every game that I’ve ever played in,” Jones said after fully participating in the Patriots’ first practice of Week 8. “Whether that was in peewee football or third-string at Alabama, I always try to prepare as the starter. Like I always say, whether it’s one snap or 70, I’ll be ready to go, and that’s all you can do, right? You can’t really control anything else.
“I work really hard and put myself in position to do that, and yes, I think I deserve that.”
Head coach Bill Belichick has yet to publicly announce Jones is starting this week, repeatedly saying “we’ll see how it goes today” during his pre-practice presser. Jones was asked whether Belichick has told him directly that’ll he’ll get the nod against New York.
“Obviously, we don’t really talk about that,” the second-year QB said. “We’re going to go through the week of practice, and Coach Belichick — just like every other week — he’s going to tell you what you’re doing and how you have to play the game and what we have to do to win.
“He’s done a good job being very open with me, and I think that’s the important part. That’s all you can ask for, right? Just clear communication, going out there and putting all the other rat poison away and playing the best I can play and becoming the best quarterback I can be.”
The Patriots removed Jones from their injury report Wednesday, indicating he’s fully recovered from the high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 3. That injury sidelined him for three weeks, during which rookie backup Bailey Zappe won twice and lost in overtime. Jones took roughly 90% of first-team reps in Wednesday’s walkthrough, per Yates’ report.
“I feel pretty good,” Jones said. “Just trying to get my treatment, and I’ve done a good job of that. Like everyone else, just sticking to my routine and trying to get back into that and trying to just become a better football player. Whatever I can do to do that, just like everybody else on our team, I’m going to do.”
Jones returned to game action Monday night, but only on a part-time basis. He was removed after three series, with Zappe playing the rest of the way in a humbling 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium.
Belichick said he’d planned to play both quarterbacks because Jones wasn’t yet ready for a full-game workload, and he acknowledged afterward that the approach “didn’t work out.” Jones went 3-for-6 for 13 yards with an interception in his limited reps, and Zappe faded after two quick touchdown drives, finishing with three turnovers and two three-and-outs on the Patriots’ final five possessions.
“I think we always have a plan, and when Coach wants to talk about that, we’ll talk about it,” Jones said when asked whether the Patriots might use both QBs again this week. “But all I can focus on right now is the practice I had today and talking with the guys and fixing the things to play against a (Jets) defense that’s the top in the league. We’ve got to be ready to go.”
