Bill Belichick sticking with Mac Jones at QB despite two consecutive benchings

The New England Patriots left the field on Sunday with a 34-0 home loss to the New Orleans Saints. It was the second-worst loss in head coach Bill Belichick‘s career, only better than the loss to Dallas a week before. Amid the team’s struggles, quarterback Mac Jones once again hit the bench.

Despite benching Mac Jones in two straight games, after the game, Bill Belichick once again insisted that he’s New England’s starter moving forward.

“Yeah, there were a lot of problems, it certainly wasn’t all him,” Belichick said in defense of Jones.

The offense in New England has been historically bad. Only scoring three points over two games is the worst for New England since 1992. That season, New England went 2-14, earned the first overall pick, drafted Drew Bledsoe, and hired Bill Parcells. This was before Robert Kraft even owned the franchise.

This was the second week in a row Belichick benched Jones. In both cases, it seemed to be because the games were blowouts and Belichick wanted to avoid potential injuries.

Mac Jones was a first overall pick in his own right. Now, in his third season, he’s playing like he may not have much football ahead of him in New England. Through five games this season, Jones is only completing 62.5 percent of passes, with five touchdowns and six interceptions.

On top of that, Mac Jones made history by tying Tom Brady’s Gillette Stadium record for pick-6s thrown. He did that in less than three seasons compared to Brady’s 20 years as a Patriot, 18 of which were in Gillette Stadium.

Bill Belichick, always tight-lipped, was especially short during his postgame press conference. Still, he did admit the Patriots need to start over. However, he didn’t explain what he meant by starting over when he was asked to clarify.

“Obviously it was a poor performance today here,” Belichick said. “So just plain and simply, we’ve got to find a way to play and coach better than that. So that’s what we are going to do, start all over and get back on a better track than we’re on right now. Slow start. And then just couldn’t ever really get the game under control.”

The NFL chose not to fine Mac Jones

New England only managed to win one game to this point in the season, against the New York Jets. Amid that game, Mac Jones got into some kind of altercation with star defensive back Sauce Gardner. After the game, Gardner claimed that Jones hit him below the belt.

Despite that claim, the NFL ultimately decided not to fine Mac Jones, who has been punished by the league before for seemingly dirty plays.

Tom Pelissero reported the reasoning, “Any discipline would’ve required sufficient video evidence to support Sauce Gardner’s accusation. In this case, there wasn’t enough.”

As division rivals, New York and New England play again, making this a storyline to keep track of going forward.