The New England Patriots failed to reach the playoffs again.
They were fairly inconsistent, and their offensive play-calling raised plenty of eyebrows, to say the least.
But more than that, some questioned whether Mac Jones has what it takes to be a star in this league, as he kind of regressed from his promising rookie season and was even benched in favor of Bailey Zappe during a brief stretch.
Nonetheless, when asked about his future with the organization, coach Bill Belichick showed his support for the Alabama product:
“Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league,” Belichick said. “We all have to work together to be more productive than we were this year.”
https://twitter.com/ZackCoxNESN/status/1612438615023357954
Belichick knows the team was far from perfect this season and that they’ll have plenty of areas to address in the off-season:
“The process will start today,” Belichick added, per The Score. “Nobody’s satisfied with (finishing 8-9). That’s not our goal. We need to improve on that.
No word from Bill Belichick on whether Matt Patricia and Joe Judge will return in their current roles next season.
"We'll look at everything.
Belichick did say that *he* plans to coach next season.
"The process will start today."
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) January 9, 2023
Perhaps the biggest point of emphasis will be on the coaching staff, as Belichick refused to name coordinators throughout the season, and the team looked poorly coached and out of sync for most of the campaign:
“That’ll be part of the whole process that we go through,” the coach continued. “We need to be more productive on all levels: offense, defense, and special teams … But that’s certainly something we need to do: Score more points.”
Belichick’s stubbornness cost the Patriots any improvement this season.
But if history has taught us something is that we should never doubt the great Bill Belichick.
NEXT: Bill Belichick Comments On His 2023 Status