The Patriots are having another torrid campaign in the post-Brady era, with head coach Bill Belichick looking increasingly suspect.
Quarterback Mac Jones isn’t helping the situation either as he’s having a pretty bad season on a personal front himself. Jones’ proclivity for throwing on his back foot has caused him to miss open receivers while he’s already thrown nine interceptions and lost two fumbles in 2023.
Jones’ decision-making is believed to be a source of frustration within the organization, according to SI’s Albert Breer, who’s suggested that the QB hasn’t been very coachable this season.
“One thing that’s really infuriated people there — people in the building — is the decision-making,” Breer said on NBC Sports Boston this week. “They’d been sold the smart, efficient, game-managing quarterback, and they’re not getting it. The decision-making hasn’t been good. They see him passing up open receivers. They see things, quite frankly, that you wouldn’t see from a quarterback who has those sorts of qualities. So it’s not just the physical limitations now.
“It’s also that it doesn’t feel like he’s really taking the coaching, and that creates a much bigger problem. Because if this is who Mac Jones is — and we’ve seen some of the defiance bubble over in the press conferences — if he’s not running the offense as it’s prescribed, well then what do you have? Because it’s not like he can put the cape on and be Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. If you don’t have that one part of it, then what do you have?”
Breer pointed to one example from Sunday’s loss to the Washington Commanders that saw Jones audibling into a play for Mike Gesicki and then deciding against throwing to him despite the TE being open. He ended up running for three yards instead.
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Jones isn’t the only one deserving blame for the Pats’ latest loss. The offensive line did a better job this time around but receivers struggled to get open. Even so, Jones isn’t making a great case as a long-term solution for the Pats, who just might end up trading him.
