Some of Mac Jones’ Patriots teammates weren’t pleased to see the quarterback’s name appear in trade rumors last week.
NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry reported on a recent episode of “The Next Pats Podcast” that multiple New England players were “not happy” that a potential Jones trade had become a public topic of discussion.
“I’ve spoken to players who are not happy that this is in the news, that the Patriots and their potential interest in trading Mac Jones is out there in the public sphere,” Perry said, as transcribed by NBC Sports Boston. “They aren’t happy on Mac’s behalf; they aren’t happy, period, on their own behalves. They’re not happy that 2022 is bleeding into 2023.”
That trade chatter was triggered by ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, who reported last week that Bill Belichick “has shopped” Jones to “multiple teams” this offseason. Multiple outlets later pushed back on Florio’s use of the word “shopped,” saying Jones’ name might have come up in conversations with other clubs but that New England was not actively attempting to trade him.
Belichick, though, has done little to publicly support Jones, declining multiple opportunities to endorse him as the Patriots’ starter and suggesting he’ll need to beat out second-year backup Bailey Zappe this summer in order to keep his job as QB1. Both reportedly have been regularly training at Gillette Stadium ahead of New England’s offseason program.
All of this has come amid reports that Jones angered Belichick with the way he handled the Patriots’ failed offensive coaching setup last season, from his increasingly frequent in-game outbursts to his choice to reportedly seek advice from coaches at his alma mater, Alabama.
Perry said his sources in and around the Patriots offered “a collective rolling of eyes” at Belichick’s reaction to Jones’ behavior, saying: “They don’t believe Mac Jones was being coached last year.”
“Folks in the building understand he was in an adverse situation, and that is putting it gently,” Perry said. “It’s really difficult to hold it against him that he tried to fix it on his own. This is how people view this: Mac Jones felt as though he had exhausted all options available to him in the building, so he went out and pursued improvement elsewhere. And he might be punished because of that? He might be traded because of that? That’s him writing his own ticket out of town? There’s an absurdity to all of this that is not lost on Patriots employees.”
A lack of coaching shouldn’t be a problem for Jones this season, as Belichick swiftly hired a new, proven offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (Bill O’Brien) this offseason to replace Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. The Patriots also took steps to improve their offensive line (hiring Adrian Klemm; signing Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson) and pass-catching corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mike Gesicki) and should add more talent to both groups in this month’s 2023 NFL Draft.
Time will tell whether those changes can spur an offensive turnaround in 2023 — and whether Jones will be the man behind center when the season begins.
