Rex Ryan Tries To Decipher Bill Belichick’s ‘Start Over’ Comments

Even Bill Belichick, arguably the sharpest football mind in NFL history, might be at his wit’s end with this Patriots team.

New England is on a fast track to the cellar of the league after suffering back-to-back losses of more than 30 points. Following Sunday’s 34-0 home loss to the New Orleans Saints, Belichick vocalized his intention to “start over” when asked how he plans to fix the Patriots’ slew of problems.

But what exactly does that mean? It remains to be seen, but Rex Ryan on Monday morning tried his best to make sense of Belichick’s ambiguous remark.

“What he means is, ‘We got to do everything. We got to go back and identify who the hell we are. What are we going to be about? Are we going to be a running football team? Just throw it all over the lot? Who the hell are we?’ ” Ryan said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “He’s never lost two games like that in his whole career. I mean, he’s getting smoked.

“To me, he’s going to get his staff together and say, ‘What can we do?’ Well, right now, I have no idea. You used to be able to run the football. That’s where it better start. You put it in this kid’s (Mac Jones) hands, it’s a disaster. It’s going to be a disaster.”

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“Starting over” doesn’t appear to include a quarterback change. All signs point to Mac Jones starting Sunday in Las Vegas, even though the third-year signal-caller was benched in each of the Patriots’ last two games. But that choice might have to do more with Bailey Zappe’s limitations rather than confidence in Jones.

But whatever these forthcoming changes are, Belichick and Jones better hope they result in a win over the Raiders. If not, team owner Robert Kraft might reach his breaking point.