Bill Belichick confirms Mac Jones will start against Jets, but won’t make any longer-term commitments

As the New England Patriots will take on the New York Jets on Sunday, they will do so with Mac Jones starting at quarterback. Speaking with the media on Thursday, Bill Belichick confirmed his second-year quarterback will be under center.

“Mac took full workload yesterday,” Belichick said. “I expect him to be fully available here for the game and ready to go. That’s really it for that.”

When asked if Belichick had informed Jones whether he will start, Belichick noted he “talked to all the quarterbacks” and that “everybody knows where we’re at.”

Belichick went on to add the decision to start Jones was fully related to the quarterback’s health.

“Yes, he’s ready to play,” Belichick said. “He was ready to play last week, just didn’t feel like it was the full game. This week is a different situation. And that’s it. We’ll take it from there.”

What did not factor into the equation was Bailey Zappe’s performance in the loss to the Bears.

“No,” Belichick said. “That's it. So, we’ll take it from here. Don't keep trying to trap me into stuff down the future, because I can't. Today is today.”

With Jones off the injury report for the first time since suffering the high ankle sprain in Week 3, it seemed like the team was moving in this direction. However, Belichick continued to not commit to anything at the position beyond this week.

“No, you’re going to give me a bunch of hypothetical situations, then I don’t know what those hypotheticals are, so we’re not to get into that,” he said.

Belichick’s comments on Jones confirm the earlier report from ESPN’s Field Yates, which stated Jones took 90 percent of the practice reps on Wednesday and will start against New York.

“Mac will be our quarterback,” Belichick later added.