FOXBOROUGH — The last time the New England Patriots suffered an embarrassing loss in the week prior to facing the Cincinnati Bengals, Bill Belichick dropped a catchphrase for the ages.
Belichick didn't provide another “We're on to Cincinnati” moment on Wednesday, his first press conference of the week ahead of Saturday's game against the Bengals. However, when he answered a question about whether the team will stick with Mac Jones or not for the final three games of the season, Belichick seemed to call back to that memorable moment in 2014, but also left the door open to interpretation.
“Yeah, the plan is to try and beat Cincinnati,” Belichick said.
Whether or not Belichick's “Yeah” was a direct answer to the question of if the team plans to stick with Jones for the final three weeks of the season or was just a transition is unclear, though it wouldn't be the first time the Patriots coach has sidestepped questions about Jones' status as the starting quarterback. When Jones returned from his ankle injury in October, Belichick never explicitly said that Jones would regain the starting job as rookie backup Bailey Zappe went 2-0 as a starter.
Jones looked like he was turning the page a bit in the Patriots' first four games following the bye, but he took a major step back on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. He completed just 13-of-31 passes for 112 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions, putting up just a 52.1 passer rating.
As Jones arguably played the worst game of his two-year career, Belichick was asked if there was anything the Patriots could do in order to improve their passing attack — which ranks 23rd in the league.
“Better execution. Better consistency. Better all the way around,” Belichick said. “I don’t think it’s any one thing.”
Jones posted several career lows in Sunday's game. His 41.9 completion percentage, 3.6 yards per attempt, and -19.6 completion percentage above expectation (per Next Gen Stats) were all the lowest Jones has ever posted in a game.
Belichick was asked if there were any mechanical issues Jones had and if the team could fix them.
“There’s always things that everybody can improve on every week,” Belichick said. “Just point those out on film, try to correct them and move on. That’s players, coaches, every position. It’s the way it always is.”
As the Patriots are looking to rebound after they committed one of the biggest gaffes in NFL history that caused them to lose Sunday's game against the Raiders, Belichick didn't seem to sense that his team was down in the dumps as they're 7-7 with three games against playoff teams remaining.
“What have I seen from them? We met and talked about the game on Monday and we've moved on to Cincinnati and we're working on Cincinnati today,” Belichick said. “They came in and ate breakfast. I saw them eat breakfast. I saw them in the meeting room. They were done with their individual meetings. Take a break. They go to the bathroom and do their drug testing. They came back in and go to the next meeting.”
Was is a good breakfast spread?
“Yeah, damn right.”
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