Bill Belichick and Mac Jones' communication was 'nonexistent' by final game of 2023 season
Everyone knew things between Mac Jones and Bill Belichick were not good during the 2023 season. And it hit its lowest point before the final game of the season. According to MassLive's Mark Daniels, Jones was never told that he was going to be demoted once again prior to the New England Patriots 2023 finale […]
Everyone knew things between Mac Jones and Bill Belichick were not good during the 2023 season.
And it hit its lowest point before the final game of the season.
According to MassLive's Mark Daniels, Jones was never told that he was going to be demoted once again prior to the New England Patriots 2023 finale against the New York Jets. Instead, he found out when the inactive list was released 90 minutes prior to the start of the game.
"According to team sources, the communication between Belichick and Jones was nonexistent by this point," Daniels wrote. "Leading up to this game, the quarterback reps were split differently in practice, but no one on the coaching staff told Jones why and no one told him he’d be the team’s emergency third quarterback."
It was also reported that Jones was continuing to work hard even after being demoted to backup quarterback during the season. But that didn't change the coaches minds and it started with Belichick.
But the poor relationship between Belichick and Jones didn't just start this season. This one went all the way back to the the 2022 season. And it all began when Josh McDaniels left to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Belichick decided to make Matt Patricia (for all intents and purposes) offensive coordinator.
Jones was publicly displaying his distain for some of the decisions Patricia made, throwing his hands up in the air and making gestures when he didn't agree with a play.
"According to a team source, Jones frustration over the insertion of Patricia, and moving to a more Shanahan-based offense was immediate. Before training camp, he showed resistance to changing offensive systems especially after having success with McDaniels," Daniels wrote. "That drew Belichick’s ire."
Based on the continued struggles, it was apparent that Belichick and Jones had lost faith in one another.
So all in all, one source described Jones and Belichick's relationship perfectly to Daniels: “It’s a broken relationship.”
