Patriots players reportedly

BOSTON — Between the coaching snafus, the unnecessary quarterback controversy, and all of the losing from last season, it’s understandable that Patriots players are looking forward to turning a new leaf in 2023.

It’s not surprising, then, that the report last week indicating that Bill Belichick spent part of the offseason shopping Mac Jones to other teams didn’t land well among the quarterback’s teammates.

“I’ve spoken to players who are not happy that this is in the news, that the Patriots and their potential interest in trading Mac Jones is out there in the public sphere,” NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry reported. “They aren’t happy on Mac’s behalf; they aren’t happy, period, on their own behalves. They’re not happy that 2022 is bleeding into 2023.”

While Jones seeking outside counsel for help last year has seemingly ruffled the feathers of Bill Belichick, teammates aren’t viewing that as some sort of act of insubordination according to Perry.

“[People with the team] don’t believe Mac Jones was being coached last year, so Mac Jones reached out to people for some coaching,” Perry said. “He wasn’t being coached. He sought out coaching, and now he’s the problem? What are we talking about here?”

Perry added: “Folks in the building understand he was in an adverse situation, and that is putting it gently,” Perry said. “It’s really difficult to hold it against him that he tried to fix it on his own. This is how people view this: Mac Jones felt as though he had exhausted all options available to him in the building, so he went out and pursued improvement elsewhere. And he might be punished because of that? He might be traded because of that? That’s him writing his own ticket out of town? There’s an absurdity to all of this that is not lost on Patriots employees.”

As it currently stands, Jones is still the starting quarterback of the Patriots, despite all of the rumors and reporting and the lack of public support from Belichick. Clearly, though, the coaching staff may still have some issues to iron out with the roster when the team gets to work this spring and into the summer.