It seems that Mac Jones and the New England Patriots have not been working in lockstep.
During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that general aura of disagreement between the two parties has worsened since Jones’ Week 3 ankle injury. More specially, he said that the quarterback did not wish to undergo a suggested ankle surgery.
“[The Patriots] wanted him to get the ‘tightrope’ [surgery],” Breer said. “Initially when he got hurt with the high ankle sprain, it was thought to be a pretty severe high ankle sprain. He’s seen guys go through this, and he thought, ‘I’m going to be better off just rehabbing the injury.’ And there was some level of disagreement there.”
Jones, 24, sought a second opinion after his initial MRI exam and the injury is apparently less severe than originally thought.
Breer previously reported the quarterback questioned why coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge changed the offense after he boasted a productive rookie year in Josh McDaniel’s system before he left to become Raiders coach.
The discord comes in the shadow of Bailey Zappe’s rise to relevance. Jones has been out since he left during the Week 3 contest against the Ravens, and Zappe has filled in nicely. The backup completed 24 of 34 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns in New England’s 38-15 win against the Browns on Sunday to improve to 3-3.
While Breer is confident Jones won’t be supplanted as the Patriots’ quarterback, he pointed out the underlying lesson at hand.
“I think Mac’s getting his job back,” Breer said, “But I do think there’s a little bit of a lesson being taught here. We’re putting a fourth-round rookie out of Western Kentucky out there. Look what happens when he does what we tell him to.”