FOXBOROUGH – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick provided an optimistic outlook on Mac Jones and his ankle injury on Wednesday.
Belichick said the quarterback is getting better after he reportedly suffered a “pretty severe” high-ankle sprain in Sunday's loss to the Ravens.
“I saw Mac a little while ago, definitely getting better,” Belichick said. “He probably won't practice today, but made a lot of progress over the last 48 hours. So, keep plugging away, take that day-by-day and see how it goes.”
Once Belichick provided an update, he took a similar approach as Jones did to answering questions about the injury.
“Take it day-by-day,” Belichick replied to a question on if Jones will play Sunday against the Packers.
Jones is reportedly seeking a second opinion on the injury while it appears he might need surgery. When asked if Jones will need surgery, Belichick gave a similar answer.
“Day-by-day,” Belichick said. “Day-by-day. That's the plan. Day. By. Day.”
There have been some rumors that Mac Jones and the Patriots are in a disagreement on how to handle the injury. Those rumors seemed foreign to Belichick when asked if there was any disagreement about how to handle the situation.
“Yeah, I'm not really sure what the make of the question is,” Belichick said. “Day-by-day, he's getting better. We'll see how it goes. Day-by-day.”
Bill Belichick – noted non-medical expert. pic.twitter.com/nrtDvFohlb
— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) September 28, 2022
Belichick even didn't say whether or not Jones' injury was a high-ankle sprain or not.
“Day-by-day,” Belichick said. “What do I look like, a doctor? An orthopedic surgeon? I don't know – talk to the medical experts.”
So, what do the medical experts on the Patriots' staff say? “Day-by-day,” Belichick repeated. “We'll evaluate him day-by – I mean what else is there for me to say, do you want me to read the MRI? That's not my job.”
While Belichick was relatively mum on Jones' injury status beyond the update he gave at the opening of his press conference, he confirmed one thing: If Jones can't play Sunday, Brian Hoyer will get the start against the Packers.
Belichick explained why Hoyer gets the nod over fourth-round rookie Bailey Zappe.
“He knows it better than everybody,” Belichick said of Hoyer. “I mean, from an overall experience standpoint, Brian's had a lot of experience and been in a lot of different systems. He's seen a lot of football. He's taken a lot of snaps for us in various capacities. I thought he played well in the preseason. If we need him to go, he'll be ready to go.”
Even though he hasn't ruled out Mac Jones yet for Sunday's game, Belichick said there isn't much worry about having to possibly prepare two quarterbacks to start Sunday.
“Not too much [concern],” Bill Belichick said. “Brian's got a lot of experience. He's done everything that we've wanted to do, not be able to do it. I think with minimal practice, that's what it was. Just take it day by day. We aren't really doing anything differently.”
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