The 2023 season has been a struggle for the New England Patriots to this point. The team is 1-3 with their only victory coming against the struggling New York Jets. Some solace could be taken from the fact that New England hung with the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins the first two weeks of the season, but a dismantling at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys showed just how far away they are from competing for even a playoff spot.
There isn’t much to get excited about in New England currently. The addition of Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator hasn’t been as positive as the team had hoped as the Patriots are 30th in points scored and 17th in yardage gained.
At this point, it is fair to wonder whether Mac Jones is the guy for the job. After a decent rookie season, he has seen most of his numbers drop for a second straight season. Trending toward a third playoff-less season out of the last four, some major changes could be on the horizon.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report has suggested that the Patriots just rip the bandaid off. In his opinion, the one thing New England must do this year to provide hope for the future is fire head coach Bill Belichick and move on from Jones as the starting quarterback.
“They’ll likely wait out the season on a Belichick move, but they should give 2022 fourth-rounder Bailey Zappe some looks under center while at least considering a midseason coaching move and a full-on tank for the 2024 offseason.”
There were reports this past offseason that people around Belichick believed he was on the hot seat. Reportedly, the only thing that would keep Belichick from being fired was a trip to the postseason. A deteriorating relationship with owner Robert Kraft was cited as the biggest reason why Belichick could be fired.
If Belichick is gone, moving on from the quarterback which he selected to be the long-term answer for the franchise makes sense as well. Jones hasn’t come close to replicating the success he found as a rookie, and even then it was only mild.
Seeing what Bailey Zappe has as the starter would provide the Patriots a chance to see how aggressive they need to be on the quarterback market next offseason. At that point, wins and losses wouldn’t matter anymore as ownership wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the losses pile up to improve their draft position.
