Patriots Reportedly Considered These QB’s Instead Of Mac Jones

If you’ve been looking for a reason to blame someone for Mac Jones’ tenure with the New England Patriots not going to plan, you’ve got it.

The Patriots, or at least those who used to be in charge, seemingly never were totally sold on him in the first place. That’s what we’ve been led to believe, anyway, with a recent report stating New England considered replacing him prior to the season.

Let’s unpack that.

In his feature on the turmoil inside New England during Bill Belichick’s final season, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Thursday dropped a little nugget about two quarterbacks the Patriots supposedly considered over Jones.

It started with Davis Mills, who Breer claims was the Patriots’ top option outside of Jones entering the 2021 NFL Draft.

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In 2021, Belichick liked Alabama’s Mac Jones and Stanford’s Davis Mills, seeing Jones as the best option at the position in the class apart from Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. And while the Patriots didn’t love Jones, who had his share of physical limitations, they knew they needed to do something at the position after how going into ’20 without a real quarterback plan played out.

They’d agree on taking Jones with the No. 15 pick rather than the alternative, which would’ve been drafting a position player there, and coming back and getting Mills either in the second round, or with a trade up into the bottom of the first round. And while they were on the clock, there wasn’t much discussion about doing anything else.

It didn’t end there, though. Breer also reported the Patriots considered replacing Jones prior to the start of the season, with another signal-caller that might make fans in New England cringe.

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Jones came back with a confidence that some teammates, coaches and staff saw as false bravado. It was bolstered with (Bailey) Zappe struggling and the team deciding not to trade up for Kentucky’s Will Levis in April, which had been at least a point of discussion.

Those aren’t exactly world beaters.

It’s been a rough few seasons at One Patriot Place, and now it would seem the best move for all parties would be moving on. Jones is better off somewhere other than New England, needing a fresh start. The Patriots are better off without Jones, though the person picking his replacement is up in the air.

They can do well by avoiding Mills and Levis, however.