The Patriots used to be the team that had an answer for everything. Answers have proven elusive for the Patriots during this annus horribilis for the Hoodie. But Bill Belichick and Co. have gotten one definitive answer this season. It’s just not the one they hoped for.
Mac Jones isn’t the answer at quarterback. He’s not the franchise quarterback for the future, and he shouldn’t be the starting quarterback of the present. Mac is a mess. He’s broken. The coach-quarterback relationship he shares with Belichick is busted, as is their trust in one another after the last three weeks, which included two disheartening losses and one bizarre and shambolic process of preparing a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Giants.
It’s over, and so should Jones’s reign as starting quarterback. It’s time to move on. That’s not because Bailey Zappe represents a better option — it’s marginal at best — but because continuing to put Jones through this psychological wringer is cruel and unusual punishment, and, like the team’s offense, totally unproductive.
After all the intrigue and obfuscation regarding naming a starting quarterback, Jones started Sunday’s 10-7 loss. He didn’t finish it. MetLife Stadium may go down as the Waterloo of his Patriots career.
Jones was yanked yet again for Zappe, for the second consecutive game and the fourth time this season. This time the Hoodie Hook came at halftime with the team scoreless and Mac 12 of 21 for 89 yards with a pair of ghastly interceptions. The second pick came with the Patriots in field goal range and set up New York’s only touchdown after Bobby Okereke returned the errant pass to the New England 26.
It was pick 12 for Jones. No. 12 was once a magic number for the Patriots passing game. Now, it’s an integer of ineptitude.
“Just bad quarterback play. It wasn’t good enough by me, so if the quarterback doesn’t play well you got no chance,” Jones said.
Why did we think the Patriots would be able to replace Tom Brady on their first real try with their first real candidate?
It’s clear that Jones is not a successful successor to Brady. The Patriots will have to go back into the draft or try to pick off a quarterback via trade or free agency to return to respectability.
The plan was to salvage Jones with old/new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. Instead, this year’s offense makes the Matt Patricia one look like the Air Coryell Chargers. Jones is beyond fixing, at least in Foxborough.
His QB circuitry is fried and so is his confidence. The more the Patriots drill him not to make mistakes, the more mistake-prone and tentative he becomes. You can thank Belichick for some of that.
From Globe.com
By Christopher L. Gasper
The Patriots used to be the team that had an answer for everything. Answers have proven elusive for the Patriots during this annus horribilis for the Hoodie. But Bill Belichick and Co. have gotten one definitive answer this season. It’s just not the one they hoped for.
Mac Jones isn’t the answer at quarterback. He’s not the franchise quarterback for the future, and he shouldn’t be the starting quarterback of the present. Mac is a mess. He’s broken. The coach-quarterback relationship he shares with Belichick is busted, as is their trust in one another after the last three weeks, which included two disheartening losses and one bizarre and shambolic process of preparing a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Giants.
It’s over, and so should Jones’s reign as starting quarterback. It’s time to move on. That’s not because Bailey Zappe represents a better option — it’s marginal at best — but because continuing to put Jones through this psychological wringer is cruel and unusual punishment, and, like the team’s offense, totally unproductive.
After all the intrigue and obfuscation regarding naming a starting quarterback, Jones started Sunday’s 10-7 loss. He didn’t finish it. MetLife Stadium may go down as the Waterloo of his Patriots career.
Jones was yanked yet again for Zappe, for the second consecutive game and the fourth time this season. This time the Hoodie Hook came at halftime with the team scoreless and Mac 12 of 21 for 89 yards with a pair of ghastly interceptions. The second pick came with the Patriots in field goal range and set up New York’s only touchdown after Bobby Okereke returned the errant pass to the New England 26.
It was pick 12 for Jones. No. 12 was once a magic number for the Patriots passing game. Now, it’s an integer of ineptitude.
“Just bad quarterback play. It wasn’t good enough by me, so if the quarterback doesn’t play well you got no chance,” Jones said.
Why did we think the Patriots would be able to replace Tom Brady on their first real try with their first real candidate?
It’s clear that Jones is not a successful successor to Brady. The Patriots will have to go back into the draft or try to pick off a quarterback via trade or free agency to return to respectability.
The plan was to salvage Jones with old/new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. Instead, this year’s offense makes the Matt Patricia one look like the Air Coryell Chargers. Jones is beyond fixing, at least in Foxborough.
His QB circuitry is fried and so is his confidence. The more the Patriots drill him not to make mistakes, the more mistake-prone and tentative he becomes. You can thank Belichick for some of that.