Bedard: No, Belichick doesn't hate Mac Jones - this defensive draft just feels that way

It was so obvious a joke to make, even this hack took a shot

Between the simultaneous Bruins collapse, and Bill Belichick picking three straight players for a defense that ranked third in advanced analytics (FootballOutsiders.com) and top 10 in conventional stats last season — and brought everyone back (even Mack Wilson, Raekwon McMillan and Myles Bryant ... man, Joejuan Williams really blew it) — I couldn't resist.

I mean, seriously, what the heck did Jones do to Belichick? (Somewhere, Malcolm Butler is adding a new chapter to his pending tell-all book)

I'm not going to rehash what we all know happened last season with the coaching, Jones' many trips to the x-ray room and Bailey Zappe. Then they get to the offseason, a chance for a fresh start, and ...

• Belichick said Jones "has the ability to play quarterback in this league" when asked if he was the presumed starter after 2022.
• Belichick lets Jones' buddy and favorite target, Jakobi Meyers, leave for peanuts.
• They marginally improve there with Juju Smith-Schuster. They get another tight end (Mike Gesicki) on a one-year deal. They don't go near any other weapons.
• The offensive line mostly stays intact, but with a chance to shore up the shaky tackle situation, Belchick goes shopping at the discount bin.
• The Patriots are now 21st in offensive spending, while the defense is 8th.
• Belichick doesn't mention Jones by name and won't endorse him at the league meetings.
• In the 2022 draft, Belichick locked up a guard in the first round and reached on a receiver in the second. Then took two cornerbacks who could actually play well as rookies with the next two picks.
• And so far in this draft, Belichick used his top three picks — and didn't bother to use one of his four fouth-round picks to target a need on offense – for defense. Interesting that just two years ago, after taking Jones 15th overall, Belichick used a fourth-round pick to move from 46 to 38 to pick defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who despite being a darn good prospect has yet to be a full-time starter entering his third season. Why did Belichick feel the need to pounce on Barmore? "It's pretty unusual to get the first defensive tackle to be drafted at that point and the first interior defensive lineman to be drafted at that point in the draft, so we traded up," Belichick said at the time.

The Patriots ranked 18th last year in offensive touchdowns, 26th in yards, 24th in advanced analytics and you mean to tell me there was not one player after the spot-on Christian Gonzalez pick at 17 and 46 (similar to the Barmore situation) on 76 that could help this offense and Jones? Not a one?

"I think you always try to do what's best for your team," Belichick said late on Friday night. "There's a lot of different ways to build a team. This is one part of it. Free agency was part of it. Didn't sign a lot of defensive players in free agency. Signed [Chris] Board, he's kind of a combination defense-special teams player. Most of the signings were on offense – Juju [Smith-Schuester], Mike [Gesicki], Riley [Reiff], [Calvin] Anderson, so you could say the same thing about free agency. Maybe we should've signed more players in free agency. I don't know. But just kind of worked out that way. Sometimes it's balanced, sometimes it isn't. But I mean in the end, we'll field the best team we can to be competitive this year and where they come from, I don't know, trades, free agency, draft, undrafted, waiver wire. We'll just have to see how that all plays out."

For those scoring at home, here are the offensive players picked before 46 and 76 that could be viewed as selections that could help the offense:

20. WR Jaxon Smith-Njibia (Seahawks)
21. WR Quintin Johnston (Chargers)
22. WR Zay Flowers (Ravens)
23. WR Jordan Addison (Vikings)
25. TE Dalton Kincaid (Bills)* Trade up
27. OT Anton Harrison (Jaguars)
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34. TE Sam LaPorta (Lions)
35. TE Michael Mayer (Raiders) *Trade up
38. OT Matthew Bergeron (Falcons)* Trade up
39. WR Jonathan Mingo (Panthers)
42. TE Luke Musgrave (Packers)

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48. OT Cody Mauch (Bucs)* Trade up
50. WR Jayden Reed (Packers)
55. WR Rashee Rice (Chiefs)* Trade up
58. TE Luke Schoonmaker (Cowboys)
63. WR Marvin Mims (Broncos)* Trade up - Maybe they'll be more willing to trade Jerry Jeudy now for a 4th. In that case, all is forgiven and Belichick's a genius.
65. OT Tyler Steen (Eagles)
69. WR Tank Dell (Texans)* Trade up

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On the board and taken after Marte Mapu:

73. WR Jalin Hyatt (Giants)* Trade up
78. TE Tucker Kraft (Packers)
79. WR Josh Downs (Colts)
92. OT Wayna Morris (Chiefs)* Trade up
93. TE Darnell Washington (Steelers)

You get the picture, and I didn't even include a running back (could use a pass catcher there as well).

It should be noted that former Patriots personnel men Dave Ziegler (Raiders), Nick Caserio (Texans) and Jason Licht (Bucs) each traded up for offense in this stretch. And, amazingly, Caserio, of all people, did it twice — for a receiver and a center.

So three guys using, presumably, the same grading system, saw fit to trade up for offense while Belichick saw no need, sat firm and picked defensive players.

And not just any defensive players. If they were, like Gonzalez, addressing an obvious need, say starting linebacker or free safety (Alabama's Brian Branch was around for a while), then that's understandable.

Belichick took a tweener defensive lineman (Keion White) at a stacked position and seems destined to supplant only Daniel Ekuale, and a small school box safety (stacked position) or linebacker (given weight room development) in Mapu.

Those are the types of luxury picks you make when you're a) winning or close and looking for a final puzzle piece, and b) churning the roster and making sure depth is ready in case of expiring contracts/injury.

I don't know about you, but those days seem pretty distant, especially in an AFC East that is vastly different than the one Tom Brady cake-walked through.

So that brings us back to the original joke ... does Belichick just really hate Jones? If you listened to too much sports talk radio, it wouldn't take you many beers to start wondering thoughts like, "Is this just Belichick deciding just to stick it to Jones and Robert Kraft for no longer bowing at the altar of Belichick?"

To finally gain some clarity on the Jones topic, Belichick and I had a nice little back and forth around midnight after Belichick decided he'd talk to the media on Friday night when he's always wrapped up on the state of the team following the final day.

Q: Excuse the question, but I'm going to assume that we're not getting you tomorrow after the draft from what we've been told. So I wanted to give you an opportunity, if you want to clarify sort of your feelings about Mac Jones. There have been some well published reports that you were shopping him that, you know, weren't refuted by anyone from the Patriots. Also, you know, Cam Newton, when he started in 2020, you declared him your quarterback after you drafted Mac Jones, you declared (Newton) your quarterback. At the league meetings, you didn't mention Mac by name. I'm just wondering how do you feel about Mac? Is he your quarterback right now? How do you view him going into year three?

BB: Well I'm not going to respond to the anonymous quotes Greg [Bedard].

Q: Is Mac your quarterback, as of right now?

BB: Yeah, I mean, look, Mac's been our quarterback for two years. As I tell the team every year, each player, each coach, we all have to re-establish and prove ourselves every year. That's what this league is. So that's for all of us.2023 is 2023 and we'll see how it goes.

Q: You were very complimentary of him going into last season and last training camp. Do you still view him the same way?

BB: Absolutely.

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Well, that's a least a little more clarity on the status of Jones (it should be noted after he didn't take a QB in the top three rounds). I asked him point blank if Jones was his QB as of right now, and he said yes. He could have found a way to punt on the question again, and did not. 

Do I really think something sinister is going on?

No, not really but I'm not going to be definitive on that.

To me, this all goes back to something I heard from a Patriots source back when Belichick was spending premium pick after premium pick on defense, like 2020 with Dugger, Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings.

"We all have our comfort zones when it comes to this stuff, it's natural. Bill's a defensive guy, it's what he's comfortable with and what he knows best. If there's any discomfort about what to do, he's always going to return to his comfort zone. It's not an indictment, it's just nature."

That used to play fairly well here when No. 12 was on the other side. He was the ultimate chicken-salad-maker out of chicken shit. The problem is, Belichick hasn't updated his personnel formula. He still thinks what played for Brady will play for any other QB because it's the system, stupid, not players. It would be nice for him to realize — or if anyone was left to tell him to his face – that most QBs in this league need more help, especially young ones (not to mention better coaching). And if you're going to err, err on the side of offense because that's harder to play than defense.

But that's not Belichick, especially at 71.

He doesn't hate Mac. Belichick just can't help himself.