FOXBORO — There isn’t any do-over for the Patriots.
They botched the dealing with of their quarterbacks in latest weeks, Mac Jones particularly. Damage was accomplished with every passing minute.
But with the New York Jets looming forward, Bill Belichick needed to discover a option to get again on monitor Wednesday, pave an escape route and apply a large sufficient bandage to cease the bleeding from the issue that was festering.
And he did. For now.
Mac Jones will begin Sunday in opposition to the Jets, sources confirmed to the Herald. So fortunately, there gained’t be a week-filled with suspense, together with rising suspicions.
Let’s hope it stays that method. In the NFL, quarterback points are the worst downside to have whether or not it’s for one week, or your complete season.
Until Wednesday, the Patriots had two quarterbacks who didn’t know which finish was up, together with a roomful of gamers who didn’t know who was main the offense.
Thankfully, Belichick has utilized a brief repair on the very least. But he additionally must make it clear, whether or not publicly or contained in the room, that he’s standing by Jones for the rest of the season.
Temporary gained’t minimize it within the locker room. Going day-to-day and week-to-week doesn’t work. Either Jones is the person for now and the instant future, or he’s not. There’s actually no time to waste relating to backing the highest man.
The Patriots face a make-or-break kind of recreation on Sunday. If they anticipate to go anyplace this season, or no less than give themselves a shot, they should beat a much-improved Jets staff at MetLife Stadium.
At this stage, having doubt at a very powerful place would have been catastrophic. As legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia opined Wednesday throughout an look on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” it was time for Belichick to fish or minimize bait on the quarterbacks.
“I think it’s a tough situation right now. I would like to see them say, ‘Hey, this guy is starting, and we’re playing (the Jets), and this is how we’re going.’ I don’t think this is a tryout time,” Scarnecchia mentioned. “They’ve got a big game against the Jets on Sunday. They need to win that game … so let’s just make a decision, ride it, and ride it hard.”
Couldn’t agree extra.
While Belichick would possibly love a superb thriller, and would possibly love maintaining everybody in suspense over which quarterback goes to play, or each, as was the case Monday evening, he wanted to cease fanning the flames.
He wanted to extinguish the inferno he largely set in movement earlier than it was too late and the season went utterly down the drain.
Belichick would possibly consider he’s giving the opponent additional work by not revealing his starter, nevertheless it was bordering on ridiculous to maintain listening to the “we’ll see what happens” line trotted out.
Because that technique was doing extra hurt than good.
Jones and Bailey Zappe had been struggling in their very own method, and by extension, so was the staff, which was blown out by the Bears.
With no acknowledged No. 1, the impression was that each quarterbacks had been nonetheless competing for the job, though Belichick insisted Wednesday that wasn’t the case.
Fine, however there needed to be some motive Belichick was holding again on committing to Jones.
And that was the crux of the issue.
Maybe the harm compelled all of the thriller, and the Monday evening debacle was merely Belichick’s method of getting Jones some work within the lead as much as the extra vital recreation in opposition to the Jets.
That mentioned, Belichick may have stopped the entire noise in its tracks weeks in the past by simply saying that Mac was his starter at any time when he was wholesome and able to play.
End of story.
Instead, a wall of uncertainty was created. There was doubt forged about Belichick’s belief in Jones, and that mainly left the quarterback place in disarray.
If Belichick’s intention was to try to push Jones with a little bit competitors from Zappe to make him higher when he returned, that horse left the barn Monday evening.
Yanking Jones after simply three sequence, with a decide being his final play, merely set the desk for extra questions and extra complications.
So it behooved Belichick to scrub up the mess.
The season relied on it. The quarterbacks wanted readability each for themselves, and for a locker room which was compelled to take sides.
Before the season started, Belichick made it very clear the place the buck stopped. He mentioned he took “responsibility for everything that happens on the field.”
Well, he desperately wanted to repair what was broke.
Now that he has, it’s time for Jones to reply. It’s time for him to get snug within the pocket, clear up the turnovers, develop with the offense and grow to be the quarterback that was envisioned when he was taken fifteenth total within the NFL draft final yr.
“We have a plan. For me right now, that’s to become a better quarterback individually and a better player and I’m doing everything I can to do that,” Jones mentioned Wednesday. “I just want to prove that every day, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jones additionally supplied a much bigger image outlook for the group which was spot on.
“I want this to be about the great offense that we’re trying to form,” he mentioned. “I think we’re making good strides. We want to be better, we all know that. We want to score more points, we want to do things better.”
Having a acknowledged beginning quarterback is certainly a superb place to start out.
Source: www.bostonherald.com