Bedard: Mac Jones to start vs. Jets, but Belichick leaves the rest wide open

UPDATE: Bill Belichick spoke today and fell well short of saying Mac Jones is the QB of this team, as he did with Cam Newton.

Certainly is his prerogative, and it might be justified, just have to point out that Jones, at least publicly, has the job for now but the future is in doubt beyond the Jets game.

Q: I just didn't know fully available. I know sometimes you need to spell it out for me. When it comes to the plans moving forward, is he able to... 

BB: I've just - that's where we're at. Okay? So like don't give me - I don't want to go through all the hypotheticals. That's not where we're at. We're getting ready for the Jets. That's where we're at. Period. 

Q: You can't say for the whole season?

BB: I can't give you, no. You're going to give me a bunch of hypothetical situations. I don't know what those hypotheticals are. So we're not going to get into that. 

Q: I'm trying not to ask a hypothetical but...

BB: It's hypothetical. Like here we are today. We're practicing for the Jets. It's Thursday getting ready for the Jets. That's where we are. Anything that happens beyond that, it's not current. I'm not going to get into it. That's as helpful as I can be.

Q: Is the decision to make Mac the quarterback for Sunday, is that fully related to Mac's health?

BB: Yes. He's ready to play. He was ready to play last week, just didn't feel as the full game. This week, it's a different situation. That's it. We'll take it from there. 

Q: I was just curious did Bailey's [Zappe] play on Monday have anything to do with it?

BB: That's it. No that's it. We'll take it from here. Take it from here. Don't keep trying to trap me into stuff down the future, because I can't - today's today. 

With Newton:

Q: After watching the film, are your thoughts still the same that Cam Newton is your quarterback, or is there any chance you might open it up to Jarrett Stidham?

 BB: Yeah, I’ve answered that question for the last time.

So the possible factors going forward in regards to Jones are wide open, as I illustrate down below.

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The news today from plugged-in Patriots reporter Field Yates:

Interesting it didn't say Jones is the starter for the rest of the season, or something stronger along those lines.

Earlier in the day, Bill Belichick wouldn't disclose much:

Q: Have you named a starting quarterback for this Sunday yet? 

BB: We'll see how it goes here today. 

Q: Do you plan on having a quarterback rotation again? 

BB: We'll see how it goes today. 

Q: Is that something that would be said? 

BB: Look, we're not doing anything here. We haven't practiced. We're going to go out and see how it goes today, alright? 

Q: What would decide? 

BB: We'll see how it goes today. 

Q: But what do you have to see today?

BB: We'll see how it goes today. Alright, thank you.  

Q: I'm curious from a confidence perspective, your heavy chance for Bailey [Zappe], Mac [Jones] seemed down in the moment. Do you have to concern yourself with Mac's confidence at all going forward? 

BB: Yeah, we'll get the team ready to play. 

Q: Do you feel as though you need to address the quarterback situation with the rest of the team so they have some clarity on how things go?

BB: We'll deal with it. Thank you. Appreciate that.  

Q: Yeah, I was just wondering. I know the players had the day off yesterday. Is that something you would've spoken to them about today potentially?

BB: We'll deal with it. Alright, thanks.  

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Look, this could simply be a case of Belichick wanting to see how Jones came through the game by observing/talking to him at practice today. 

Must have went well, because not only did the Yates report come out but ... Jones is now completely healthy, according to the injury report.

Limited all last week in practice. Pulled after three series against the Bears. Now, completely healthy. It's a miracle!

Kidding aside, Jones didn't reveal too much later to reporters either.

Q: You're not on the injury report. So do you feel 100 percent?

MJ: I feel pretty good. I think, like I said, just trying to get my treatment. I've done a good job with that. Just like everybody else, just sticking to my routine and trying to get back into that. Try to just become a better football player. Whatever I can do to do that, just like everybody else on our team, I'm going to do. That just goes with working hard and treatment’s part of that, too. 

Q: Bill Belichick said 'we'll see how it goes in practice' when we asked him who's going to be the starting quarterback this week. So what did you show him during practice?

MJ: I think, like we said, we have a plan. For me, right now, that's to become a better quarterback individually and a better player. I'm doing everything I can to do that. I just want to prove that every day. That's what I'm going to do. This is a team sport. So sometimes it's hard for me to talk about myself all the time. I want this to be about the great offense that we're trying to form. I think we're making good strides. We want to be better. So we all know that. We want to score more points. We want to do things better. Our coaches are doing a great job. They're working really hard. We've made a lot of progress together. I think being close is never good enough. But I think we're getting there. We just want to fix the things that we can fix and be better. 

Q: Do you plan on starting this Sunday?

MJ: I plan to start every game that I've ever played in. So whether that was in peewee football or third string at Alabama, I always try to prepare as a starter. Like I always say, if it's one snap or 70, I'll be ready to go. That's all you can do, right? You can't really control anything else. I work really hard and put myself in position to do that. Yes, I think I deserve that.

Q: There was a report by ESPN’s Field Yates saying that you’ll start this week, and you took 90 percent of the snaps today at practice. Have you been told directly that you’ll start this Sunday?

MJ: I think obviously we don’t really talk about that. Like I said, we’re going to go do the week of practice and then Coach Belichick, just like every other week, he’s going to tell you what you’re doing and how you have to play the game and what we have to do to win. He’s done a good job being very open with me and I think that’s the important part. That’s all you can ask for, right? Is just clear communication and going out there and putting all the other ‘rat poison’ away, playing as best I can play and become the best quarterback that I can be.

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We should, maybe ... possibly, know more when Belichick speaks on Thursday — the first time since Wednesday's session. Hopefully he comes out and definitively states that Jones is the team's starting quarterback (will have more on this when I post my Bears Breakdown ... these late games always screw me up, I'm getting old, sorry).

Everything will be answered. Everyone can be full steam ahead. We can all move along and put our Zappe Fevah shirts in the closet.

But if he doesn't? Well, then, we could have a prolonged situation on our hands, and it has to do with the injury report.

If Belichick doesn't definitively back Jones on Thursday, then we will have the biggest piece of evidence yet that they are enamored with Jones and his future is in doubt here. Belichick would essentially be leaving the competition wide open.

I don't expect him to do that. I expect him to, at least tepidly, back Jones.

But the injury report thing put my antenna up. Jones is not fully healthy. We all know this. Belichick himself said Sunday that the plan was to rotate the QBs due to Jones' health.

Q: I believe you told ESPN that the intention was to play both quarterbacks in this game. Was that because of Mac Jones' health?

BB: Yeah, that was a factor, yes.

So two days later, Jones' health is of zero concern? Who believes this?

This could be Belichick telling Jones — either directly or through the injury report: "I don't want to hear anything about your ankle. You can't blame anything on Sunday on your ankle. You've been pushing and pushing me to play, that it's your job. Here, now you have it. Don't say anything about your ankle. Even though I didn't give you enough time to knock off the rust, you were expected to hit the ground running against the Jets."

He may have added: "I HATE the Jets. If you cost us this game — and a loss would basically be the season — I'm taking the injury excuse off the table. If you fail, it's because you're no longer good enough."

And then all bets would be off. They could go back to Bailey Zappe. And, quite frankly, I wouldn't rule out a trade of Jones, either before Tuesday's deadline or, more likely, in the offseason as Belichick throws his whole weight behind Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.

I do expect Belichick to send the right message to his team — he knows locker room dynamics and how messages can effectively be sent via the media to his team better than anyone; he's a master — and the Patriots to start back on their upward descent.

But I can't yet rule out the other scenario, not with that injury report maneuver. It's too ... odd.