Reports have been surfacing that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been shopping quarterback Mac Jones this offseason. With this in mind, a potential trade is still rumored to be possible before the season starts, reports ProFootballTalk. This has caused an uproar of defense of Mac Jones across Twitter.
Bill Belichick gave Mac Jones a defensive coach and a special teams coach to run the offense last season and he regressed, so now he's trying to trade him.
How long will Kraft let a declined Belichick run things in NE? history has proven he's a career losing coach without Brady pic.twitter.com/w9JRlcX3jG
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 4, 2023
The Patriots have reportedly shopped Mac Jones to other teams this off-season. Trying to trade him after giving him a defensive coordinator as his Offensive Coordinator and a special teams coach as his QB Coach last year is MIND BLOWING.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 4, 2023
Mac Jones and Bill Belichick last season pic.twitter.com/Bd0vgIczFr
— PGS NEST (@NestPgs) April 4, 2023
Riddle me this:
If Belichick really has no faith in Mac Jones, why change over the offensive coaching staff and hire the guy Mac worked with at Bama? Why not just keep Matty P and Judge and let them develop this vastly superior Zappe guy?— Jerry Thornton (@jerrythornton1) April 4, 2023
The fact that this could even be a discussion is tremendously dysfunctional. And what’s worse: Mac Jones looking bad/asking for outside help last year is largely Belichick’s fault. https://t.co/CycY1aQaLe
— Khari Thompson (@kdthompson5) April 4, 2023
Mac Jones deserves better than how the Patriots have treated his career 😔💔#FreeMacJones pic.twitter.com/3Vt7nNKvvA
— Alabama DieHards (@DiehardsAlabama) April 4, 2023
The largely unanimous opinion here is that Belichick and the Patriots have treated Mac Jones unfairly. Primarily due to his coaches, twitter pundits are defending Jones because of the fact his coaches in year two were simply not offensive coaches. For Belichick to blame Jones' regression solely on the young quarterback, he is not giving credit to Jones' circumstances.
While much of the blame is placed on Jones' offensive coaches, there is plenty of criticism over Belichick's ability as well. Ever since Tom Brady left New England, Belichick has led the Patriots to a 25-25 record and not one playoff birth. Reporters like Dov Kleiman are wondering aloud if Belichick is given too much credit for the winning years with Brady.
In general, the consensus is that Bill Belichick scapegoating Mac Jones is not justifiable. Jones has only played two seasons in the NFL, and his regression last year can be attributed to a number of factors that were outside of his control.
If Belichick is actually shopping Jones and is successful in dealing the quarterback elsewhere, it looks like many will side with the Alabama product and root for his success elsewhere. For now, Jones is still a Patriot, but given the dysfunction that Belichick has been in the center of ever since Brady left, it might be in the best interest of both parties to go their separate ways.