Patriots’ Jack Jones Strongly Disputes ‘False’ Bill Belichick Report

Jack Jones’ team-imposed suspension did not stem from a verbal dispute with Bill Belichick, according to the Patriots cornerback.

Jones, who was suspended by New England while on injured reserve late last season, on Thursday denied a report that he “talked back” to Belichick.

“I never mouthed off at Bill idk where y’all getting that from…” Jones wrote on Twitter after the Patriots’ latest organized team activities practice.

“Throw that out tho,” he added.

When a Twitter user informed Jones that the report came from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the cornerback tweeted the following message at Breer:

“please don’t write false stories. how you portray the players to the media could help or hurt our career im not asking you not to do your job but DONT LIE.”

Here’s what Breer reported during a January appearance on NBC Sports Boston:

“The Jack Jones thing, my understanding of how that went, he was late to rehab sessions, he missed rehab sessions. And I even think he talked back to Bill a little bit about it, to the point where Bill felt like he had to address it in a team meeting two Fridays ago.”

Belichick has not publicly discussed specifics about what triggered Jones’ punishment, but the parties seemingly resolved their differences this offseason. Belichick said in March that Jones’ suspension was “over,” and the 2022 fourth-round pick has been a full participant in both of the Patriots’ open practices this spring.

Jones initially worked with the second-team defense in Tuesday’s OTA behind rookie Christian Gonzalez and veteran Jonathan Jones, but he also saw reps with the top unit, lining up opposite Gonzalez.

“He’s still working his way back in there,” Belichick said before Tuesday’s practice. “It’s good to see him out there. We’ll see how that goes.”

Before suffering what proved to be a season-ending knee injury in Week 14, Jones appeared in 13 games as a rookie, starting two, and recording two interceptions, six passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. One of those INTs was a pick-six against Aaron Rodgers in Jones’ first career start.