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Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has resisted referring to Mac Jones as the team’s starting quarterback this offseason and one of the team’s defensive players didn’t take the bait when asked recently about Jones’ grip on the job.
Safety Adrian Phillips was more than willing to talk about the quarterbacks that the Patriots will be facing during the 2023 season during an appearance on NFL Network, but he was less forthcoming when asked about Jones being the team’s No. 1 signal caller.
“Man, you’re trying to get me in trouble,” Phillips said. “One thing I’ll say, and pretty much the only thing I’ll say is that I’m not in the meetings with them, so I don’t know what’s going on over there, but I will say that Mac is competing, all those guys are competing, and we’re going to ride with whoever’s out there. That’s a decision that’s up to Bill and those guys on offensive side, but we’re rocking with them either way and we’re just kind of worried about the defensive side.”
The hope in New England is that Jones and the rest of the offense rebound now that Bill O’Brien is the team’s offensive coordinator. Any other result will likely lead to even more questions about the team’s plans at the position next year.