There are a bunch of criticisms you can levy at Mac Jones as he enters into his third season, regardless of what happened with the offensive coaching last season:
- Is just 16-15 as a starter.
- Too many interceptions (24 in 31 starts).
- Didn't see the field great last season.
- Didn't trust his teammates on the offensive line or some of the receivers.
- Acted out at the worst possible times in some games and showed up his coaches.
- Didn't fully buy into the offensive changes last year at any point (which was completely valid, because the changes were stupid — and that's not in hindsight, either).
- May have called around asking for help or pointers outside the building (again valid since he was being coached by offensive neophytes who didn't know their ass from their elbow.
Bill Belichick may harbor a little ill will toward Jones for any of the above reasons and may, as a result, be keeping his eyes open for other options at the position.
Nothing wrong with that or cause for concern. Until you know you have The Guy at quarterback, you should always be looking for him.
Would it be a complete shock if the Patriots traded Jones at some point? Of course not, but it sure doesn't sound like that his coming at any point with the owner — who seems to be taking great pleasure in using a heavier hand on football operations this offseason — firmly in Jones' corner.
"We're blessed to have a great young quarterback in Mac Jones as our quarterback and I'm a strong believer in him and his development," Kraft told Fox Business recently.
That would echo similar statements made by Jonathan Kraft on 98.5 The SportsHub during the season.
“What I will tell you is Drew [Bledsoe], and then Tom [Brady] – passionate, hardworking guys, respected in the locker room, love football. You watch Mac Jones work, Mac Jones works just as hard and is just as passionate as those two were,” Kraft noted. “So I think we have somebody who loves the game of football. That matters to him. He’s in the building around the clock and cares deeply about it. And in my conversations with him, you see a guy who’s a leader. I know the people in the locker room, the other players believe that he is a strong leader and a leader of the team. And so that gives you the foundation to be a very good quarterback.”
Robert certainly isn't making those comments if Belichick told him in offseason meetings that he was down on Jones and thinking about trading him. Belichick fully realized he put Jones and the offensive players in a terrible position last season and has set out to correct that — even if he won't come out publicly and acknowledge his own failings.
But, still, if a certain situation presented itself for Belichick — no, I don't have any suggestions or guesses — you can't totally rule out a trade of Jones.
So there's plenty of things you can say about Jones and his future here.
What you can't do is try to draw some line from Jones not being at the Patriots' facility in February and his future here. It's the height of silly talk when nothing else — Bruins are rolling and on the West Coast, Celtics have been on the NBA All-Star break, and no one cares about a bad Red Sox team — is going on.
Some have globbed on to Scott Zolak's comments on Tuesday, when he said:
"I just hope he's in the building laying claim to what should be his. The way he should look at it: 'I don't want to give this backup an inch.' He should be here installing with Billy every day. 'This the offense we're installing it. Let's get going. I'm just gonna do it one on one with him. Billy, what are you doing? I'll be in at 7, you got time at 7? Let's go over things for a couple hours. We're not getting a lot of noise from that end of it. And normally I think we would with all the connections."
I understand Zo's thoughts, I spoke to him about them to see where he is coming from and he's certainly entitled to his opinion around here, but his timeline is off.
Those are comments you could make in May, not in February.
Why?
Because offseason contact is expressly prohibited between players and coaches until at least the start of voluntary workouts on April 17. Even then, offseason work with the coaches can't being until the third week of the voluntary offseason. Jones can receive a playbook — if it's even ready — and text with O'Brien a little bit, but that's about it. And the Patriots definitely adhere to those rules.
The Super Bowl just concluded. February and March are a chance for the players — and coaches — to recuperate after a long season. The players with families and children in school here, they often go to the facility to workout, but that's it. Single guys like Jones go to their home base, often in warming climates, and workout with their trainers. Jones started with his trainer almost immediately after the season:
That's what he should be doing right there. This is not 2002. Players can't be in the facility installing with O'Brien right now. It can't happen, and won't happen. It's not the time to say the QB isn't with his teammates, and isn't leading them. That starts on April 17th. If he's not there then, like Tom Brady wasn't his final couple of seasons as he showed his displeasure with his contract situation, then you can point at Jones not doing what he's supposed to do.
Here's the other thing: Jones already knows the playbook since it's most likely going to be heavy on what he did his rookie season.
There are a lot of things you can say about Jones at this point. You can even speculate on his future here if you want, although that would be a surprise.
What you can't do is point to Jones not being in the facility in February and say he's not going what he should be doing.
That's silly (season) talk.