Mazz: The Patriots quarterback search begins anew
Lest there be any doubt, we should all agree on one thing now: the search for the Patriots’ next quarterback has begun.
The unofficial end of Mac Jones came in fitting fashion yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany, where the potential successor to Tom Brady all but vanished in a puff of smoke, his entire career potentially going poof. With 4:25 to play in the game and the Patriots facing a 10-6 deficit on second-and-12 from the 15-yard line of the Indianapolis Colts, Jones took a snap and feebly threw a pass that was intended for Mike Gesicki, the ball traveling an embarrassingly short distance. The pass landed into the the arms of safety Julian Blackmon, who had to catch the ball while falling backward because it was so underthrown.
“A terrible throw,” admitted Jones in what was, indisputably, his most accurate delivery of the day.
I mean … it’s over, isn’t it? And if it isn’t, it certainly feels that way. In Jones’ last 29 games now, including one in the postseason, the case against him is now rife with evidential exhibits, a dossier as think as Trent Brown. The Patriots have gone 9-20. Jones has thrown 32 touchdown and 28 interceptions. He has fumbled nine times and lost four. Jones has been sacked so many times – 62, to be exact – that he has looked downright shell-shocked for weeks now, some of that the result of his own doing, some of it the result of a bad receiving corps and a worse offensive line, not to mention negligent coaching and administrative decisions made by the (once?) great Bill Belichick.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 26: Head coach Bill Belichick and Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots walk off the field after the loss to the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium on September 26, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Is it more Bill’s fault than Mac’s? Probably. Is it more Mac’s than Bill’s? Maybe. In the end, while we can certainly debate it all, that verdict doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the Patriots are right back where they started when they directed Tom Brady toward the door roughly four years ago. Even the most optimistic Jones supporters must now look at this situation and wonder whether Jones will ever start another game for the Patriots or whether he will ever again play in the NFL. If that feels like some sort of kneejerk overreaction, so be it. But at this moment, there is simply no way the Patriots can go into 2024 believing Jones is even remotely close to a real, long-term answer at the most important position in sports.
So, what do the Patriots do in the interim? Good question. Depending on how things play out with Bill Belichick – and there is plenty to discuss on that front, too – a decision on Belichick must come first. Then the Patriots must consider options at quarterback in free agency, on the trade market and in the draft – or some combination of all three – and come up with plan for the short term and the long. Maybe Jones, if he even wants to remain here, can still be a backup. Maybe they can swap him for some other damaged soul. (Houston’s Davis Mills?) Maybe they can sign a veteran stopgap and draft The Next Guy. Whatever the choice, the one thing the Patriots absolutely, positive cannot do is stand pat.
For years, during the extraordinary run built around Brady and Belichick – in that order – the Patriots were almost annually regarded as a legitimate championship contender for the simplest of reasons: they had thecoachandthequarterback, as we always declared, though again we should change the order. Now, the truth is they have neither. And for as much time as we have spent of late discussing the future of Belichick, the demise of Mac Jones reached a similarly critical stage yesterday in Europe, where the great once-great Patriots dynasty continued to crumble.
The coach is one thing.
But as we’ve learned since Brady departed, the quarterback is far more important.
Mazz: A look back at Mac Jones mostly costly interceptions
