Bill Belichick absolves Mac Jones despite benching him for second straight game: ‘Certainly wasn’t all on him’

It seems like everyone but Bill Belichick thinks the New England Patriots have a quarterback problem.

For a second consecutive game, Mac Jones was benched amid a blowout – on Sunday, the Pats fell embarrassingly to the New Orleans Saints, 34-0.

Jones also took a seat when the Patriots were getting blown out by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, a game they lost, 38-3.

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Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots watches his players, including quarterback Mac Jones, warm up before the Raiders game at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

While the Pats have scored just three points in their last two games, they’ve allowed 72, so despite Jones’ struggles, Belichick was quick to say there were other issues.

“Yeah,” Belichick said when asked if Jones would be the Pats’ quarterback moving forward. “There were a lot of problems. It certainly wasn’t all on him.”

After being able to sleep on the loss, Belichick told WEEI on Monday that he and his staff were going to “take a look at everything.”

“Obviously we didn’t do anything well enough yesterday,” he said. “Frustrated, but we’ll just have to work our way out of it. That’s all there is to it.”

Mac Jones, left, and Bailey Zappe of the New England Patriots take the field for the Cardinals game at State Farm Stadium on Dec. 12, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona.  (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

“All good plays come with good fundamentals, so we need to be a better fundamental team in every area,” Belichick said. “Again, between schemes, coaches, players’ awareness, situational awareness, we need to do a better job than what we’re doing. I mean I don’t think there’s any one thing that’s going to change it, or one player. We just all have to do a better job.”

Despite Jones getting out of work early on back-to-back Sundays, Belichick still thinks the two have a good relationship.

“I’ve got a good relationship with Mac since he’s been here,” he said. “Meet with him on a regular basis and we have a good line of communication. He works hard and I have a lot of respect for what he does.”

In his first two games, Jones completed 68.8% of his passes (66-for-96) for four touchdowns and 547 yards, albeit both in losing efforts. But since then, he’s 39-for-72 (54.2%) for one touchdown, four interceptions, and 461 yards.

Mac Jones of the New England Patriots reacts after a play against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 10, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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The Pats will fly west next week for a date with one of Belichick’s prodigies in Josh McDaniels, whose Las Vegas Raiders beat New England last year on a miracle play in which Chandler Jones intercepted a wild backward pass, stiff-armed Jones to the turf, and ran into the end zone as time expired.