According to reports, patriots quarterback mac jones may not have the “clean slate” with newly hired head coach jerod as it was predicted back in january. Even with mayo serving as the replacement for belichick, patriots and nfl insider albert breer of sports illustrated outlined why he believes jones’ cause “in new england is lost.” “he was good as a rookie and has regressed badly since,” breer said of jones. “he was well-liked early on, but he lost interest in the building as time went on. And the quarterback room he was in the last two years became toxic, so that zappe, as a rookie, would often watch tape in the receiver room.”
After zappe went 2-0 as a rookie, it was rumored that some patriot players wanted zappe to have at least a chance to win the starting job over jones in the summer. There was no real quarterback competition, but belichick pulled jones from games on four occasions this past fall before starting the final six games for what became a 4-13 team. Jones’ teammates seem to be in no hurry to campaign for the 2021 first-round draft pick to stay with the club through the end of the season, and it’s likely he’ll lose supporters inside the locker room during what could be his last campaign with the club.
Mayo said last month that “there’s enough blame to go around” to explain why jones regressed so badly after receiving a pro bowl nod as a rookie, but breer said that the jones-patriots relationship will not heal anytime soon. “you can’t snap your fingers and make that history disappear with coaches and staff,” breer said. “what happens if jones returns in the offseason, in camp, or in an early game?” “what happens if jones returns? Everyone will refer back to the past. Which makes for a difficult environment for jones to try and move forward in, and potentially a dangerous situation for mayo to dig his first team out of.”
According to analysts, the patriots will look to acquire jones’ replacement via the third overall pick of this year’s draft, including ryan wilson of cbs sports, espn’s field yates, and walter cherepinsky of walter football. After the new league year begins in march, new england is expected to offer jones’ services at some point.
