The 2022 NFL season didn’t go to plan for the New England Patriots, especially in offense. At some point, Bill Belichick even benched Mac Jones for Bailey Zappe, aiming to turn things around.
The Alabama product had a remarkable rookie campaign, but took many steps back in his second year. The Patriots, however, have already turned the page and are looking forward to coming back stronger.
Jones is expected to take the reins again in his third year in the league, but nothing is for certain yet. When asked about it, Belichick made it clear everyone has to compete for the job, including the quarterbacks.
Bill Belichick suggests Patriots QB1 job is still up for grabs
“We’ll see how those guys do when the real football starts, pads come on, there’s a little more pass rush and so forth, but they can all run the offense efficiently,” Belichick told SiriusXM, via NESN. “They’re all smart. They all handle what we do so that everybody else can operate efficiently. So, we’ll give them a chance to compete and see how it goes.
“Mac had a good offseason. He’s one of our offseason award winners — first in, last out of the building. Really does a good job of being on top of everything we’re doing so he can lead from the quarterback position in terms of play-calling and those types of things,” Belichick said about Jones, before offering his views on Zappe.
“Zappe is way ahead of where he was last year, obviously, rookie going into his second year,” he continued. “And it’s been good to work with McSorley. He has a little bit of game experience, a little bit of NFL experience, but is still a young player.”
Jones has so far taken the starting duties in training camp, but the coach suggested there will be chance for a potential competition before the season gets underway. But if we had to guess, it looks like it will be Jones’ job.