Some New England Patriots fans have lost confidence in Mac Jones following two consecutive concerning performances. But has he also lost the trust of his teammates?
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer relayed after Sunday's 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints that Jones has been called out for his issues during practice, and there isn't much "internal confidence" in the third-year quarterback heading into Week 6.
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"It feels to me like a team that knows it doesn't have a chance. A team that somewhere in the back of its head knows that no matter how well it plays, it doesn't have the horses to win. And no matter how well its quarterback plays, he doesn't have the juice to be able to pull up everybody around him," Breer said on Sports Sunday.
"This is something that showed up in practice. What we saw against Dallas, what we saw against New Orleans, has shown up for Mac Jones in practice to the point where defensive players have called it out in practice and said, 'You can't do that. That's gonna get picked off. That's gonna create a turnover.' The fact that it's happening in games is a problem. And it's gonna cause a team to lose confidence in its quarterback. I don't sense a lot of internal confidence in Mac Jones right now."
Jones followed a horrible performance vs. the Dallas Cowboys with an equally abysmal outing vs. the New Orleans Saints. In the two games, during which the Patriots were outscored a combined 72-3, Jones totaled 260 passing yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. Two of those INTs, plus a strip-sack, were returned for touchdowns.
The Patriots will have to decide by May 2024 whether or not to pick up Jones' fifth-year option. As Breer notes, they're running out of time to figure out whether he's the QB they want to commit to for the foreseeable future, and the early results have been far from promising.
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"The way I look at it, they have 12 games left to figure out whether or not he's the quarterback of the future," Breer said. "So they better do what they can to get his confidence back to the point where they can get a clear read on who he is."
Head coach Bill Belichick already seemed to confirm Jones will be under center when the Patriots visit the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday. But if Jones' woes continue, the calls for Bailey Zappe to take over will only grow louder.
Watch the full Sports Sunday segment below: