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Things didn’t go very nicely for the New England Patriots final season. The Pats completed simply 8-9, and so they missed the playoffs for under the fifth time within the Bill Belichick period. Their offense, specifically, was a catastrophe, each when it comes to on-field outcomes and within the conception of the way it ought to be run.
A whole lot of the blame for that poor efficiency landed on the toes of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, and this offseason, Bill Belichick tapped again into his previous to rent Bill O’Brien as his offensive coordinator and hopefully get issues again on monitor. But it wasn’t simply the coaches who got here below fireplace; quarterback Mac Jones was extensively criticized as nicely, and briefly appeared to be benched in favor of Bailey Zappe. This offseason, Belichick refused to substantiate that Jones was definitively the staff’s starter heading into 2023, and final week, it was even reported that New England was procuring Jones.
According to Mike Lombardi, a former Patriots staffer throughout the 2000s, that’s extremely unlikely.
“The concept [Belichick] is procuring Mac is in opposition to all the pieces he would do,” Lombardi stated on the “GM Shuffle” podcast, in response to ESPN.com. “First of all, he is probably the most secretive individual within the league. He’s not going to inform you something he is doing; even some individuals within the group do not know.
“But if someone involves him and tells him, ‘I’ll offer you a [first-round pick] for Mac,’ does that imply he is procuring him? No. That simply means someone requested the query. I feel we’re at a semantical difficulty right here. Did the Patriots mess up with their resolution with the staffing [last season]? That’s pretty apparent, and I feel [Belichick’s] admitted that. Was Mac Jones’ habits conducive to that of an final chief? No. He’s received to confess that too. So there’s culpability on each side. The solely method they will enhance is [acknowledging that] collectively.”
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Lombardi’s assertion that procuring Jones is in opposition to all the pieces Belichick would do is smart, however for a distinct motive: Jones is coming off a down 12 months after he carried out a lot better as a rookie, so promoting on him now would doubtless be promoting low. And until Belichick feels that Jones is finished within the NFL, it is extremely unlikely that he would promote at this second. It can be a lot better to attend and see if Jones performs higher below O’Brien earlier than making the choice to maneuver on. He’s below contract for not less than two extra seasons both method, so that you may as nicely collect as a lot info as potential prior to creating a transfer.
