Following a disappointing season, the New England Patriots had a great opportunity to improve around Mac Jones with DeAndre Hopkins in the open market. However, Bill Belichick couldn’t pull it off.

Even though he was linked with a Foxborough move for months, the star wide receiver ended up signing for the Tennessee Titans. Needless to say, it was seen as a huge failure by the Patriots.

The former Arizona Cardinals star seemed to be a great candidate to improve the unit, but New England waited for too long. In the first day of training camp, both the head coach and the quarterback addressed this topic.

Bill Belichick, Mac Jones address failing to add Hopkins

When there’s an agreement, there’s an agreement. When there’s not, there’s 31 other teams,” Belichick said, via NESN. Jones, meanwhile, showed respect for Hopkins but downplayed the situation by praising his current teammates.

Yeah, I think DeAndre’s a great player and I know he’s gonna do great down there,” Jones said. “For us, I think we have a great group. And that’s what we’re trying to do: mold together. I think we have great tight ends, receivers and backs. We definitely have great depth.

DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton are the main targets for Jones right now. Only time will tell whether they’re enough to help the Patriots succeed.