Fact Check: Did Mac Jones disrespect Patriots HC Bill Belichick last season?
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the New England Patriots were shopping quarterback Mac Jones to other teams following some unfortunate events during the 2023 season. According to multiple sources, this occurred because Jones sought advice from his Alabama coaches on how to deal with his struggles in the 2023 season.
According to Mike Florio, coach Belichick was furious at his quarterback and wanted to send him to another team because of the tension between the two. Finally, the Patriots' hiring of Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator shows that they have faith in Jones.
This is unlike anything we've seen from the Patriots and it shows that the quarterback might have gone a little too far, disrespecting some of Belichick's golden rules.
Mac Jones violated Belichick's rules: Things were done out of the locker room and outside the Patriots
There's one golden rule that happens inside the New England Patriots that should never be violated by any circumstance.
What happens inside the locker room stays in the locker room.
So when the quarterback took to his former coaches in Alabama looking for advice on how to manage the situation, the golden rule was broken. Jones has the right to be frustrated, of course - but he should voice his opinions to his coach, and not to people who are not part of the organization.
Bill Belichick was understandably furious when he found out and that's what created the tension between the player and him. Jones was still a second-year quarterback, while Bill will go down as the best of all time. The same rules were always there and the quarterback simply thought, "Oh, okay, I'll disrespect my coach".
Belichick has a deep relationship with Alabama head coach Nick Saban and former offensive coordinator (who now works with both parties) Bill O'Brien, so it's no surprise he found out.
Vince Wilfork, one of the biggest Patriots superstars over the last two decades, went hard on the situation.
“This new era of football, these kids feel entitled,” Wilfork said. “It starts in college. You’ve got all this mess going on in college and you’re taken care of as a college player. Then you get to the league and now all of a sudden you want the same treatment. But, you have to realize the shield, it ain’t college. You have to prove yourself at this level.”
Anyway, the lesson to be learned is that you should never disrespect Bill Belichick.