How Bill Belichick Reacted To Mac Jones’ Comments About QB ‘Plan’
FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots’ verbal quarterback merry-go-round kept spinning Friday morning.
Earlier this week, Mac Jones made headlines when asked whether he’ll start in New England’s Week 12 road game against the New York Giants.
“I hope so,” Jones said. “That’s the plan, I think.”
Wait, is that the Patriots’ plan or what Jones hopes the plan is?
“We’ll see, right?” he replied.
That brings us to Friday, when Bill Belichick, who’s played coy when talking about Jones’ job status since his benching in Germany, was asked whether he and the struggling QB share the same “plan.”
“I’ve told everybody to be ready to go,” Belichick said in a call-back to his Tuesday remarks. “And, hopefully, that’s what they’re all doing. I’m not gonna announce starters at every position … or whatever. Everybody will be ready to go.”
After continuing to dodge questions about Jones, Bailey Zappe and Will Grier, Belichick was asked for insight into his refusal to publicly name a starter.
“Then we’ll be announcing, ‘Who’s starting this, who’s playing that, who’s doing this, who’s doing that,'” Belichick said. “Once we get going on that; I’m not going down that road. Sorry.”
Is he simply trying to gain a competitive advantage?
“I’m just not getting into that,” Belichick said. “Whoever we put in, I hope they’re ready to go and play well — whenever that is.”
Belichick, of course, isn’t worried about competitive advantage. Nor is he concerned with some make-believe slippery slope that he could slide down once he talks about players’ game statuses.
He’s confirmed Jones’ job status on multiple occasions this season, after all.
Only Belichick knows the method to his madness. But what’s clear is that Jones can blame himself for New England’s ongoing QB controversy, and the questions he and Belichick continue to face about it.