Bill Belichick's relationship with the New England Patriots ended this month, and Mac Jones' time could be coming to an end this offseason. That is, after the former first-round pick was iced out by his former head coach.
The Patriots will likely look to trade Jones this offseason, after the 25-year-old was demoted to third string on the quarterback depth chart. His final start of the 2023 season came on Nov. 26 in East Rutherford against the New York Giants.
But Belichick didn't just sit Jones. The 71-year-old apparently didn't even tell his quarterback that he was no longer the starter, according to an in-depth report by Mass Live.
"After Week 12, when Jones was benched," Mark Daniels of Mass Live writes, "Belichick eventually stopped speaking to his quarterback. That lack of communication came to a head in the Patriots' final game.
"It created an uncomfortable situation. Jones openly rooted for [Bailey] Zappe trying to show coaches he was handling his demotion maturely. However, behind closed doors, observers noted Jones had little support. It seemed like he was being shut out."
According to the Mass Live report, which revealed Jones felt he was "on an island," Jones even complained prior to the season-finale against the New York Jets about how Belichick handled his situation.
Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
"Leading up to this game," Daniels writes, "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.
"On the other sideline Zach Wilson, who was drafted the same year as Jones, also lost his starting job. But the Jets had been upfront with their struggling quarterback. The Athletic reported that the Jets told Wilson they were going to trade him in the offseason. According to a source who was on the field pregame, the Patriots quarterback was so bothered by his team's lack of communication, he told a member of the Jets' staff that he appreciated how their organization handled Wilson's situation."
New England is set to pick No. 3 overall in the 2024 Draft, with new head coach Jerod Mayo likely to have the opportunity to select the Patriots' quarterback of the future.
Meanwhile, Jones will likely be elsewhere following a tumultuous three seasons in New England that saw him complete 66.1 percent of his passes for 8,918 yards and 46 touchdowns with 36 interceptions.
