Well, there doesn’t seem much clarity about the quarterback position in New England.
After Bill Belichick benched Mac Jones during the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ loss to the Colts in Germany on Sunday, the New England head coach was asked point blank Tuesday if Jones was still the No. 1 man under center.
Belichick’s response, however, was not exactly a direct one.
“We have a lot of things to work on this week as a team. We’ll work through those,” Belichick said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “That’s what we are going to do this week.”
The head coach was then asked a follow-up question, pressing him on how important it was to “convey” his decision, especially after the disappointing 10-6 loss.
“First thing we’ll do today is talk about the Colt game and talk about some of the corrections and things we need to do from that,” Belichick said. “So that’ll be the emphasis today.”
On Tuesday, Jones was asked during an appearance on WEEI, according to the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, about the quarterback situation and did not offer much either.
“We haven’t talked about that,” Jones said.
Things have unraveled for the Patriots this season as they’ve fallen to 2-8 and sit firmly in the basement of the AFC East.
The situation seemed to hit something of a boiling point Sunday in Germany when the team benched Jones for Bailey Zappe with 1:52 left in the game and down by four points.
The Patriots couldn’t muster anything after the change and lost 10-6, and Jones finished with a mediocre 15-for-20 passing with 170 yards and an interception.
Amid all this, Jones appeared to be scolded on the sideline by offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
“Look, I made the decision, that’s what it was,” Belichick said Sunday about pulling Jones, according to NFL.com. “We’ll deal with next week.”
And, on Monday, Belichick gave a cryptic response about the quarterback situation.
“Yeah, we just got back from Germany. … We’ll look at everything across the board,” Belichick said about the team’s quarterback plans, according to NESN.
It’s been a middling year for Jones, who has completed 65.4 percent of his passes but ranks 27th out of 44 quarterbacks with an 80.2 quarterback rating while throwing for 10 touchdowns and as many interceptions.
“Didn’t play very well,” Jones told reporters after the game on Sunday. “I’ve played well in my career before, but just not right now. It’s peaks and valleys and I’m kind of in a valley right now.”
Outside of the quarterback situation, there could be even more turmoil in New England, especially if Belichick does in fact leave the organization.
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said he’s “heard” that Belichick has a “location” of a team he could lead next year.
The next few months in New England should be interesting, to say the least.