When the Patriots decided to go with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as their offensive play callers last season, nobody could have seen good coming from that, especially with a second-year quarterback in Mac Jones. With two failed head coaches, who never have called plays before, coming into a situation with a second-year quarterback, it was only a matter of time until the you know what hits that fan.
Mac Jones reportedly reached out to someone outside of the New England Patriots organization for help. Bill Belichick has not taken kindly to that, according to NBC Boston’s Tom E. Curran. Curran first spoke of Belichick’s displeasure for the former first-round pick on WEEI’s “Jones and Mego with Arcand”
Tom E. Curran on Mac Jones
“As we know, a disloyalty in Bill’s mind is almost worse than bad play,” Curran said.
“Mac, even though you could say it is ironic because he’s trying to get better, and he’s wondering, ‘Are we supposed to be doing it this way?’ And he’s asking around the football world about it. That effort to improve was showing up the Matt Patricia-Joe Judge contingent that Bill put in charge. When Bill caught wind of it — he’s still pissed about it.”
Tom E. Curran reveals that Coach Belichick was really pissed off at Mac Jones for going outside the building for advice on how to run the offense.
Curran also believes Brian Hoyer was released because he was against the system like Mac. pic.twitter.com/ZC3URuwdQw
— Jones & Mego with Arcand (@JonesandMego) March 31, 2023
As anyone who watched a Patriots game last season saw, the offense seemed to be spinning their wheels in the mud, which would lead to a Mac Jones outburst on the sideline.
Although Belichick views this as a slight to his decisions and coaching staff, it is crazy for one to think negatively towards a player for his wanting to become better. Players have trainers and coaches outside the organization they use in the off-season, so why is it such an issue that
Mac contacted someone for lack of better-term advice.
For all we know behind the scenes, this may be nothing and it is all speculation, but other players have seemed to think the utilization of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge was completely wrong.
Patriots Cut Ties With Brian Hoyer
Now former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer was one of the players who was not completely sold on the idea of a Patricia and Judge-led offense. Tom E. Curran believes that Brian Hoyer’s recent release has something to do with this theory.
“Brian Hoyer was not sold on what was going on last year, and I think he let that be known — that Mac was up against it on a weekly basis, and I think that’s a large portion of why Hoyer’s not here. The Patriots would tell you otherwise, but they’re paying him $1.4 million not to be here and not be part of the system. Even through training camp, release him in August – you could use him for this offseason. Nope. Thanks. We’re all set with you. It’s interesting.”
The #Patriots released QB Brian Hoyer, per the wire.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 16, 2023
This is an intriguing proposition by Curran because if there was anyone who knows incoming offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien’s scheme, it’s Hoyer. Hoyer played under O’Brien for three years in New England when he was backing up Tom Brady and then was O’Brien’s starting quarterback in 2015 with the Houston Texans.
So, Belichick must be so mad at the Patriots’ quarterback room that he’s willing to cut a veteran quarterback, who is basically an offensive assistant coach at this point, who could help his former first-round draft selection who struggled immensely last year and who is now learning their (Jones) third playbook in three years. Belichick’s alleged displeasure with Jones could be why he is not willing to give Jones the vote of confidence in press conferences.
Regardless of how people feel about Mac Jones as a player, nobody can deny that he was behind the eight-ball from the start of last year. So now heading into his third season, this is a career-defining moment for Jones and he must prove that he can be the Patriots’ quarterback moving forward.