New England Patriots 11/20/23 - How Mac Jones lost his super power

How was your Bye Week? We still hosted our football crowd and watched games all day, stress-free for the first time in a long time. In the early window it was enjoyable watching the Browns beat the Steelers, especially while playing a rookie quarterback. For the late game I was rooting for the Jets to win - or more accurately, for the Bills to lose to them. The Jets even had a chance until Zach Wilson, predictably, snatched it away. Miami beat the Raiders, improving to 7-3.

We had the debate yesterday about whether to root for the Patriots to win Sunday, or root for the higher draft pick. My social media feed appears heavily weighted in favor of rooting for the Pats to lose to the Giants in Week 11 to better the odds of getting a higher pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. I am not in that class. It’s clear New England has dug too big a hole to be contenders this year but I’m still hoping for wins and that the team figures out how to make their roster work for the remaining 7 games.

I’m predicting Mac Jones will be the starter this Sunday. We’ll see who gets the practice reps this week.

TEAM TALK

• Alexandra Francisco reports Jonathan Jones honored at Legends Ball amid busy two weeks giving back to the community.
• Patriots All Access: Bye-week, behind the scenes of Germany trip, Jahlani Tavai 1-on-1. (40 min. video)
• Do Your Job: Behind-the-scenes of the Patriots trip to Germany, (14 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: How Bill Belichick helped Josh Uche ignore the trade deadline noise. “He told me they want me here. He told me teams that were interested, and things like that. We had that discussion and I was kept in the loop the whole time, knew what was going on. It was smooth. So I guess on the outside it can seem like chaotic, but I feel like Bill did a great job, at least with me, communicating what was going on.”; More. /Worth a read.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Sunday Patriots News: Bye week musings. “A few years ago, I reported here that the Patriots had a three-year deal to keep Brady in New England. And that it was the Krafts, NOT Belichick, who pulled the deal, opting to go year-to-year. I had spoken to a friend of the Bradys, who revealed this information. Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston confirmed this and added that Robert Kraft made Belichick break the news to Brady.”
• Andy Hart’s Sunday 7: Patriots need some second helpings.
• Karen Guregian enlisted Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner to deconstruct Mac Jones. Warner has watched and evaluated film of every Jones appearance through three seasons. ‘In short, Warner says over time Jones has lost his superpower, the key trait that helped him become the best rookie quarterback in the league his first season. He’s lost his ability to read a defense and quickly decipher if the play has a chance to work, or if he has to switch to something different.’
• Zack Cox is now hearing that Mac Jones could keep his job.
• Zack Cox notes we still don’t know for sure who the Week 12 starter will be, but Bill Belichick suggests it won’t be QB Will Greer. “Will’s done a good job of it. There’s no issues with him. It’s just there’s only so many snaps out there.”
• Matt Vautour rounds up the MassLive coverage team predicting which QB will start against the Giants on Sunday.
• Mac Cerullo explains why the Patriots still have faith they can turn their season around despite a 2-8 start.
• Michael Hurley spotlights how the Bill Belichick speculation has gone too far.
• Sara Marshall (MusketFire) Patriots News: Bill Belichick, Matthew Judon, Josh Uche, and Caleb Williams.
• Chad Finn assesses the Patriots at the break: ‘It’s safe to say that these Patriots are broken. They are an objectively bad team desperately in need of a talent infusion.
• Phil Perry’s Patriots Mailbag: Is it over for Mac Jones in New England?
• Matt Vautour looks at how the Week 11 results affected the Pats’ draft position.
• Mike D’Abate points out the Patriots players who are in position to earn playing-time incentives in their contracts.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Week 11: What we learned from Sunday’s games.
• Gary Gramling (The Messenger) NFL Week 11 takeaways: Lions, Dolphins survive; DeVito, DTR get first wins; Meanwhile, hot seats get hotter for Ron Rivera, Brandon Staley and others on a day of sloppy play by heavy favorites.
• Peter King (ProFootballTalk) FMIA Week 11: Goff 2.0; Allen leads Bills in must-win; Jackson on the reality of the game
• NFL Nation (ESPN) Week 11: Biggest questions, risers and takeaways.
• Nate Davis (USA Today) 32 things we learned in NFL Week 11: Unique playoff field brewing?
• Gilberto Manzano (SI) Takeaways: Bills bounce back while Brock Purdy plays perfect game in Week 11.
• Staff (Bleacher Report) NFL Week 11 Takeaways: Top takeaways for every team from Sunday’s games.
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) Week 11 winners and losers: Packers, Texans hang on as Chargers, Steelers fall apart.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) NFL winners and losers: Commanders need to change coaches, give Eric Bieniemy a shot.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Week 11: Notable injuries, news from Sunday’s games.
• Josh Edwards (CBS Sports) 2024 NFL Draft order: Bears hold two picks in top four, Giants fall to fifth overall after win over Commanders; Patriots 3rd.
• Brian Costello (NY Post) Jets, Bills fight in hallway near locker rooms after emotional clash: ‘Real mad’.
• Coral Smith (NFL.com) Jets HC Robert Saleh declines to name Week 12 starting QB after benching Zach Wilson in loss to Bills.
• Jimmy Traina (SI) Charissa Thompson, context and the Twitter pile-on.