Getty New England Patriots head coach bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones
While the 2022 regular season is in the rearview mirror, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is still upset with Mac Jones.
According to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran, the Patriots head coach is still upset with the quarterback after he sought outside help during the tumultuous season last year.
“As we know, a disloyalty in Bill’s mind is almost worse than bad play,” Curran said on WEEI. “Mac, even though you could say it’s 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.”
Curran believes that it will be interesting to see if Belichick and Jones are able to work together in 2023.
“I think how well they’re going to be able to bury the hatchet on Mac’s perceived and presumed disloyalty in doing that [is going to be interesting to watch],” Curran said. “And does Bill O’Brien rectify that or is Bill still itching to teach the kid a lesson?”
Jones struggled in 2022 throwing for under 3,000 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions per Pro Football Reference.
Brian Hoyer Wasn’t Happy With the New England Patriots
Jones wasn’t the only quarterback who was perplexed by the offense in New England. Curran added that Brian Hoyer wasn’t a fan of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge leading the offense on the sidelines.
“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,” Curran said. “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 to not 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 insider added that Hoyer expected to return to New England in 2023. With Hoyer no longer on the roster, Bailey Zappe is slated to be the backup to Jones for the upcoming season.
New England Patriots Already Making Preseason Plans
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, New England is hoping to have joint practices with the Tennessee Titans in 2023.
“The NFL doesn’t plan to release the full 2023 schedule until early May, according to NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly, but teams are already working behind the scenes on preseason plans,” Reiss wrote. “Word from the NFL annual league meeting is that Belichick and Titans coach Mike Vrabel have been talking about the possibility of joint practices in Nashville, similar to what the teams did in 2019.”
The last time these two teams held joint practices, there was some intensity with multiple scuffles breaking out. Then Patriot Stephon Gilmore and then Titan A.J. Brown got in a scrap during the joint sessions.