Patriots make a decision about Mac Jones

Long before the start of the season, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft sent one clear message: Either this team goes back to its winning ways, or someone’s going to pay for it. Most NFL analysts assumed he referred to Bill Belichick, but perhaps he was talking about Mac Jones.

Belichick signed a contract extension a couple of weeks ago, and while some believe he could still be fired — or even traded — at some point in the near future, all those rumblings have been quiet.

Instead, all the talk is centering around their struggling quarterback, who was once again benched by Bailey Zappe. With just six games left in an already lost season, coach Belichick continues to have tight lips about his plans for the Q.B. position, and it seems like he’ll make decisions on a game-to-game basis:

“Yeah, I’m not going to make any announcements on our lineup at any position,” Belichick said. “So, it doesn’t matter what the position is. We’ll see how practice goes; see if everybody is ready to go. Hopefully, everybody is ready to go; see what the injury situation is, and we’ll go with who we think is best on Sunday.”

Jones May Have Lost The Locker Room

However, as much as Belichick wants to stay true to his usual M.O., his actions reveal what his words didn’t. According to Mark Daniels of Mass Live, Bailey Zappe practiced with the first team, with Jones leading the scout team:

“According to multiple team sources, Bailey Zappe took the bulk of first-team reps during Wednesday’s Patriots practice while Mac Jones ran the scout team offense,” wrote Daniels.

Notably, the report also states that most players actually welcomed the change, as they didn’t feel like Jones was doing a good enough job to remain as the starter:

“According to one source, the practice didn’t have a different feel, but the change was welcomed,” continued the report. “By having Zappe with the starters in the first practice of the week, he’ll get a full week of preparation to start against the Los Angeles Chargers. The feeling in the locker room is that this is the right path for the Patriots to get better results offensively, and it wasn’t fair to keep putting Jones out there due to his struggles.”

Jones Is Struggling Emotionally

Jones had vowed to earn his teammates’ respect back this season, and while he’s not the only one to blame for the Patriots’ shortcomings, that just hasn’t been the case thus far.

According to Patriots insider Mike Giardi, he’s having a tough time coping with this situation, up to the point where he’s been visually ‘beat up’ over the past couple of days:

“On Mac Jones, talked to a pair of team sources. One said he’s ‘emotionally and mentally beat up. He’s poured everything into it, so to get this little out of it is exhausting.‘ Another added Mac has been ‘pressing‘ and is ‘beat up,‘” Giardi tweeted.

The Patriots don’t have a good receiving corps or offensive line, and Bill O’Brien’s play-calling and play design has been subpar as well. The team has failed Jones as much as he’s failed them.

The offseason will be key for him, and he’ll have to put a lot of work on his mental health to bounce back from this. He could still have a future in the league, either as a starter or a backup in the right situation, but he looks mentally broken and out of confidence on the field right now, and that could mean the end of his once-promising career.