Bill Belichick didn't make any commitments about the future of the New England Patriots, other than that he'll be coaching the team in 2023, after the team's 2022 season ended with a disappointing 8-9 record on Sunday. Speaking in a Zoom conference on Monday, Belichick gave Mac Jones a bit of a compliment but didn't give a clear answer when asked if he'll be the starting quarterback of the team next season.

“I think Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league,” Belichick said. “We have to all work together to try to find the best way as a football team — which obviously quarterback’s an important position — to be more productive than we were this season. So that’s incumbent on all of us. We’ll all work together on that, and again, look for better results.”

Mac Jones had an up-and-down Year 2 after a solid rookie campaign that helped the Patriots reach the playoffs in 2021. He had a rocky September, throwing three touchdowns to seven picks before suffering an ankle injury that cost him three games. When Jones returned, he played just three drives in the Patriots' Week 7 loss to the Chicago Bears as he was pulled for rookie Bailey Zappe amid boos for Jones in the Gillette Stadium crowd that night.

Jones fully regained his starting spot in Week 8, though still had some struggles. In the eight games leading up to the Patriots' regular-season finale, Jones threw eight touchdowns to one interception, but New England's offense still struggled to get points on the board as it ranked dead last in red zone efficiency.

Jones played solid for the most part in Sunday's 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills, throwing three touchdowns to keep the Patriots in the game before throwing two late-game interceptions when New England was in desperation mode.

Mac Jones finished with a final stat line of completing 65.2 percent of his passes for 2,997 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, giving him an 84.8 passer rating.

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Belichick wouldn't say what he learned about Jones in 2022 when asked.

“I think every year, you learn everything. You learn the players, the team, how certain teams handle or react to certain things,” Belichick said. “What things are easy for some teams and what things are hard for some teams. Sometimes that includes players, certainly signal-callers, operations and so forth. Again, we’ll look at everything and continue to try to find the best ways to operate. A lot of things were streamlined and became more efficient during the season, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement so we’ll continue to look at those and address them.”

New England will have the No. 14 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, while Zappe and Brian Hoyer are their other quarterbacks under contract in 2023.