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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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 Ethan Fuller

As the Patriots continue to tumble down the NFL hierarchy, even Tom Brady has had to address the spiral.

On the latest episode of Brady’s Let’s Go! podcast, the seven-time Super Bowl champion briefly spoke on the state of the team and an apparent lack of confidence.

“You’ve got to change your strategy, different weeks there’s different challenges, and I think the Patriots, they’re just having a tough stretch, just not playing with the kind of confidence that you’ve always seen,” he said. “Obviously Coach Belichick, I don’t think he’s coaching any different now than the way he coached when we were undefeated. There’s a lot of things that need to go right in order to win and succeed.

“The more I sit back and watch — everyone wants to celebrate when you win as organization; everyone’s responsible,” he added. “And the same’s true, everyone’s responsible when you lose, too. Everyone can’t be on the bus when you win and be off the bus when you lose and [say], ‘Let’s point the finger at one person.’ When you look at losing, the organization loses, the fan base loses; everyone’s in it together.”

Brady noted that seemingly better football teams lost this week as well. The ups and downs of momentum make the league challenging.

“You’re not in a situation where you’re Floyd Mayweather and you’re just better than everybody every time you take the fight to the ring,” he said. “You’re not like Tiger Woods [where] every time you tee it up, you’re better than your opponent. The NFL is tough.”

Meanwhile, hype continues to build around Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud after he led another thrilling win against the Bengals on Sunday. The Texans are now 5-4 with the No. 2 overall pick and Stroud was a featured guest on Brady’s podcast.

During the episode, Stroud asked for advice on how to manage his growing spotlight.

“I think the important thing I really want you to realize is: This is now your job,” Brady told Stroud. “Everyone, when they come to the game, it’s a vacation; it’s fun for them. ‘Oh my god, we’re here to watch CJ play.’ For you — you don’t bust in on your on your friends at their job, when they’re trying to be really focused and do what they need to do . . . You don’t need to be the source of people’s entertainment over the course of the season.

“The process of winning is fun,” Brady added. “The memories you’re going to have from a great season are fun. The games are fun; the practice [and] the camaraderie is fun. Trying to create fun for everybody else outside of that isn’t your responsibility. You’re not [the] camp counselor for everyone’s fun activities. You’re out there trying to perform, trying to dig deep for your teammates, and that requires intense focus for a long period of time.