Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots QB Crossroads: Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Will Grier, Malik Cunningham and More

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

The New England Patriots have had their share of struggles at quarterback in 2023. From the difficulties of Mac Jones, to the troubles of back-up Bailey Zappe, New England has several decisions to make on the future of the position during the bye week. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Mark Schofield of SB Nation to discuss Mac’s regression and the reasons behind it and who should be starting at quarterback for the Patriots.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-new-england-patriots/id1140512627?i=1000632782469 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashGet 50% off up to $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your FIRST order, when you download the DoorDash app and enter code LOCKED23. Subject to change. Terms apply.Jase MedicalGet $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and hopefully your first listen each and every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots free and available wherever you get your podcasts. So download, subscribe to follow to get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated, so reach out

to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. While you're out there showing some love to Lockdown Patriots social media style, follow our account there as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And of course, today, folks, we're brought to you by PrizePix, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash LockedOnNFL. Use the lowercase LockedOnNFL for a first deposit match up to $100. And Pats fans, I know all of you everydayers out there in Locked On Patriots land are expecting a crossover

Thursday well because it's the bye week there isn't a crossover to be had but that doesn't mean we can't hop in our Bella checky and time machine and do a little throwback Thursday and what better way to throw it back than to bring back the innovator here on Locked On Patriots

I try to do this show every single day and I still try to do this show every single day, and I still try to get it right each and every time I hit the microphone. Today here on the pod, we bless the rains, and welcome back the host emeritus here on Lockdown Patriots, my good friend, my mentor, Mark Schofield of SB Nation. But I always call you the excellence of execution. That has not changed.

Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Thanks for joining me today. Mike, it is great to be here, but you have already surpassed me. You did that a long time ago. And I've reminded you of that every time I've come on. And apparently I'm not doing a good enough job convincing you. That probably speaks to my ill-fated previous career as an attorney and the inability to persuade people of my thoughts and opinions here.

But it's great to be back. I wish it was under different circumstances. as an attorney and the inability to persuade people of my thoughts and opinions here. But it's great to be back. I wish it was under different circumstances. A little inside baseball here for the gentle listeners. I just got done doing a show, Big Blue View, with my good friend Ed Valentine, a New York Giants show. Now I'm doing a Patriots show. As I sometimes tell people, when I start coming on shows in, say, November and December for team-specific podcasts, it's usually not a good thing. It's usually the sign that doom has arrived. It's usually the sign that, you know what, things are wrong at the quarterback position and we need to fix them via the draft next spread. And so here I am, Patriots fans, as we were a couple of years ago going down this road.

It seems that we are now back on that path to a QB road and journey together to perhaps a new promised land. Absolutely, folks. So eloquently said, I couldn't even do it better myself. I wouldn't even try. You know, Mark, based on that type of introduction to what you're going to be talking about today, you can tell that we both have a flair for the dramatic in our writing styles, in our speaking styles, a little on the flowery side, but you know what? We get our point across, my friend. If I were to be writing a book on the Patriots dynasty right now, the chapter 2023 might be entitled, Don't Let This Happen to You. And for a lot of reasons, We're seeing probably the unraveling of the Belichickian dynasty here in New England.

A lot of speculation as to where Bill Belichick's going to be next year. That's all up for grabs right now. The rash of injuries that have come through the New England Patriots to key players, difficulties keeping guys engaged in uniform. We're seeing players jettisoned and things of that nature. It really feels like the wheels are coming off the wagon in Foxborough. But I think the most high profile

regression, obviously, that the Patriots fans are talking about is the regression at the quarterback position. And who better to bring in today than the quarterback whisperer himself to enlighten us on exactly what the problems are in new england mark i'm going to read you a couple of just basic statistics um 2021 take ourselves back in that belichickian time machine that i described earlier 521 attempts 352 completions, a 67.6 completion percentage, 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, a Pro Bowl selection. Seemed like things were going very well for Mac Jones. Those were his rookie year statistics. Since then, not so much. We're at the bye week right now through 10 games played for your new england patriots the bats are two and eight mac has completed 212 of 324 passes 65.4 completion

percentage but 2031 yards 10 interceptions 10 touchdowns doesn't tell the complete story though. We're seeing a regression in Mack's decision-making. We're seeing him make back-footed fadeaways that are really becoming far too common in his repertoire right now. Short-arming throws, floating balls. Yeah, all of that can really be used to describe his final pass of the first half of the season. But we're seeing a lot more with decision-making, difficulty, hanging in the pocket, comfort level, all of that. You see things us mere the first half of the season but we're seeing a lot more with decision making difficulty hanging in the pocket comfort level all of that you see things us mere mortals don't see mark what essentially has gone wrong with mac jones from his first year in new england to right now because the coaching is going to get a lot of the blame especially last year but to me it feels like

there's something more all right right. So how much time do we have, Mike? Because there's certainly a lot that we can do. This is, again, to reference my previous life, the open-ended question you ask your own client on the stand, like basically tell me what happened, and then you just go sit back down at council table and take a sip of water. As I just did. Two things really sort of stick out in my mind. The main one is comfort. He hasn't seemed comfortable since his rookie season, both schematically, conceptually, behind the offensive line, like you name it.

You go down the list of things you want to see a quarterback do, areas where you want to see the quarterback comfortable, areas you want to see the quarterback comfortable with. He hasn't seemed comfortable since his rookie season. You know, last year, certainly, there were coaching aspects to last year, which when you get done writing that book on this dynasty and this chapter, you know, you were going to spend in many paragraphs and many words on last season and the decision to have Matt Patricia and Joe judge sort of be responsible for Mac Jones year two. There is certainly fertile ground to cover there.

And if you look back, we've talked about execution last season. It was lacking. And it wasn't just for Mac Jones. There was a lack of attention to detail. And people like Dan Orlovsky and Kurt Warner and certainly other players that have played the position and won Super Bowls and been in an NFL huddle

pointed that out last season. But he hasn't been comfortable. And we thought coming into this year that comfort would be at least back right that he'd be comfortable with this offense he'd be comfortable in this system and comfort then inside the pocket and behind this offensive line would follow and it hasn't happened i think at times he's perhaps been more comfortable with this offense from a you know structural conceptual standpoint than certainly last year's,

but it hasn't added up to results. There are also been times where he has not been comfortable with this offense schematic. There are also been times where he has been comfortable behind this offensive line, you know, players in and out of the lineup, pressure's getting given up and you're forcing throws your back. When you're back footed away from throws, it's you're not comfortable standing in the pocket you're not comfortable getting hit that's the

body blow aspect of playing this position where you might stand there in the first quarter and take a shot and stand in there and make a throw and stand tall and everybody's clapping and getting the high fives on the sideline but it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts at Wesleyan University in 1997 it certainly hurts on an NFL field in 2023. So when you get to the fourth quarter, you don't want to get hit. You just don't. You're going to back away. So so there's a lack of comfort. And the other thing I think is this. And this is the mental aspect of playing the position that is often hard to quantify. It's often hard to put into words and it's often hard sometimes to see it on film.

But then there are times when you can see it clearly. Quicksand. And what I mean by that is this. I've said before, you cannot play this position looking over his shoulder. You can't play it scared. You can't play the quarterback position wondering if the next mistake is your last one because you're going to be on the bench next to the head coach. But when you get into that point, when you start thinking that I'm losing my job, you start doing things differently. You start maybe taking more chances. You start trying to force things. You find yourself in that proverbial quicksand moment

where you're fighting so hard to keep your job, you're doing things that are just only going to cost you your job anyway. You're doing things. You're just only going to cost you your job. Anyway, you're doing things like, look, Matt Jones is one of 32 people on the planet and trusted with being a starting quarterback in the NFL. That's a very,

very small class of people to be in. But at the same time, he has some limitations to his abilities as a quarterback rolling out to his right and throwing across his body towards the middle of the field late in the down is not a Matt Jones strength. There are a few quarterbacks, even amongst that group of 32, that are trusted with that job that can do that,

and even those get burned by it at times. But to see him make that mistake over and over again, he's fighting quicksand. He's trying to do too much as my dear friend jp acosta destination likes to say and he said this after the the pick against jalen ramsey when he had the post wheel route and he tried to test jalen ramsey with a little bit too much dip on his chip there mac jones has had a lot of moments this season where he's had a little bit too much dip on his chip and it's because of that quicksand thought it's because of that i have to make something special happen because i'm i'm

i feel my job slipping away and i know that's sort of a philosophical thing it's sort of a you know psychological thing here but i've been there again not to compare wesley university or high school whatever but when you're a quarterback and you feel the huddle turning on, you feel the coaching staff stopping to believe in you, you feel like you have to make everything up with your next throw. It's an uncomfortable place to be in. It's that quicksand kind of moment. And that's what he's dealing with right now.

And are there easy answers to this? No. I wish I could sit here and say there's X, Y, and Z you can do play calling wise. There's X, Y, and Z you can do philosophically as an offense. There's X, Y, and Z you can do mechanically as a quarterback. There's X, Y, and Z you can do from a roster. There are no easy answers right now. I wish there were. There are not. They have a bye week to figure some of this stuff out, but they're not going to figure all of it out by the time they strap it on

the next time they do. Lockdown listeners. When it comes to game day, the only thing just as important as cheering on your favorite team is making sure that your game day table is well stocked. Why root for your team on an empty stomach order on door dash and save on all of your favorite football watch party favorites all of your favorite restaurants and stores from retail to grocery guess what folks they're on the app so you can shop everything

you need to get game day ready after all patriots fans nothing says game day like some wings am i right well now you can enjoy the hickory smoked wings and any of their 14 delicious sauce flavors from Bites at Patriot's Place. That's right. It's just like a piece of Gillette Stadium delivered right to your door just in time for kickoff with DoorDash. So act now and you can get 50%

off up to a $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your first order. That's when you download the DoorDash app and enter the code LOCK23. So don't delay. Do it today. And don't forget to use the code LOCK23, L-O-C-K-E-D-2-3, for 50% off up to a $10 value on your first order when you download the DoorDash app and spend $15 or more.

Something to change. Terms apply. Very well said. And I think it's something that anyone in any walk of life can relate to. If you're doing a job that requires confidence, that requires leadership, whether it be co-workers, whether it be teammates, you need to motivate them to play for you. They need to be inspired to give their best effort for you. The loneliest place in the world. One of my favorite movies is For Love of the Game, right?

You know, the baseball movie, it's based on a great book. And, you know, Vince Scully's in it, which is tremendous. He talks about the loneliest place in sports being the pitch amount at Yankee Stadium. No, no, no. As much as I love that movie, as much as I love even that line in a sense, the loneliest place in sports is being the quarterback of a huddle that doesn't believe in you. When you have 10 sets of eyes looking at their cleats or looking at the stands or adjusting their receiver gloves or their wristbands or whatever because they're not looking back at you because they've lost

belief and faith in you that's the loneliest place in sports so i think mac is dealing with that right now i don't know for sure but to your point you were just making, you have to inspire as a quarterback. You have to get those 10 sets of eyes, believe it in you, and believe in that you're going to go down and pull out a game when you drive against Indianapolis. You're not going to back foot a throw and throw an interception, which I'm still getting DMs about it. I mean, almost a week later.

You're not going to get 10 sets of eyes looking back at you the next time you walk into that huddle that is the loneliest place in sports and I'd venture a guess that might be where Mac Jones is standing right now and it does it stands into line because at the beginning of the season you heard so many of Mac's teammates saying he's the guy he's inspiring us we're going to work for him every day we'll'll go to the wall for him. The last couple of weeks, you hear the erosion at the podium in front of the lockers. David Andrews saying things like, we got enough to worry about on the offensive line and fixing ourselves. We can't worry about who's going to be the starting quarterback.

It may seem like just something he's saying out of frustration or off the cuff, but these things all speak volumes, folks. They truly do. And if that's the type of response that your job security is getting by his coworkers, essentially in this situation, it does. It spells for a difficult way all the way around for the New England Patriots. And I think that's excellent insight, Mark, because so many of us always gravitate toward the X's and O's and this can be fixed and, oh, it's max arm and it's that. A lot of times it's as much cerebral as it is physical.

And in that case, that's tough. It really is tough to rebound from. It is a quicksand feeling. Very Shane Falco of you to say that, bud. But I think it really does apply. I get the Shane Falco jersey upstairs. And we're all guilty of this. Look, like you said, like we think things can get fixed schematically or coaching change or

something. These are human beings. Like, you know, if I had to do my job, if I had to like write articles or, you know, watch film or even do shows like this with 60,000 people watching me, like I'd perform differently. Like, like these are human beings with human emotions that are dealing with having to do their job, a very stressful and demanded one physically and mentally in front of the world. Like it's not easy. And there's a lot of pressure that comes with that. And we can't forget as much as, and I put myself at the forefront of this, at times we forget the human element involved. There's a human element to this. There's a trust. There's a leadership. There's a relationship element to this sport, as with many other sports, as with perhaps all team sports, that we shouldn't lose sight of and quarterback is is that at the forefront of those positions where you know relationships matter leadership matters leadership skills matter i know i've mentioned on this show

before my belief that quarterback a lot of positions in a sense are sort of snap to whistle positions right when you're evaluating the player and how they're performing quarterbacks is sort of monday morning in the meeting room to sunday the game at the podium position. Like you are the face of the franchise. You are the, you know, anointed leader of the team because of your status as the team's quarterback. People are going to listen to every word you say, hang on every word you say, whether it's us in the media or teammates in the locker room or teammates in the huddle, it all matters. And you have to excel at all of it. You can be the most talented quarterback in the world, but if your team doesn't trust you, if your team doesn't believe in you, if your team thinks you're out for yourself as opposed to the team, it's going to fall apart.

There are so many other aspects to this position that go into excelling at it. And a lot of it is that sort of human nature, emotional, cerebral side of it. It does. It has a ripple effect on everything that you do in the age and the dawn of social media. And now really in the full flux of social media, the way we are, the evaluation of your play, a bad play, a single bad play folks is automatically immediately done by the time you're walking to the bench. By the time you sit down and by the time you go in to take your next play, there are already multiple thousands perhaps even hundreds of thousands of takes out there that are already determining your fate on a football field for the

rest of your life before you even see any of it it is difficult and that does weigh on the mind of a lot of professional athletes today in times where you've had the chance to talk to them with their guard down with off the record kind of overarching your conversation, they'll mention that. They'll mention the immediacy of needing to perform and what it means for your career if you don't perform. So it is, I think, a very poignant point to make, Mark, and I'm so glad that you made that. And again, folks, there are a lot of factors going into Mac Jones' regression and also the Patriots' regression as well. This is not a familiar place for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.

It's only happened once under his leadership before, 2-8. That was 2000. That was his first season as head coach of the New England Patriots. But Mark, whether Mac Jones has played his final game here in New England as a starter is still up for conjecture. He did see the first team reps on Wednesday's practice, so we're making the assumption that the Patriots are at least considering keeping him in that position. But there are a lot of rumors out there that say the Pats have already made a decision to go in a separate way. We're going to get to that in just a moment, folks. But my next question for Mark in just a minute is going to be whether or not Mac Jones is still capable of being a starting quarterback,

whether you're in New England or elsewhere. Are the intangibles still there for this kid to succeed and have a decent career as an NFL starter? We're going to talk that point and more when this episode

of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcastots Podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On Patriots listeners, we spend a lot of time talking together, you and I, and we get fired up together on wins and losses, who starts, who sits. I'm thankful for that connection we have. And today, I'd like our chat to be a little more personal.

Whether you're on extended travel, bracing for a major weather event, or limited by yet another supply shortage, you are covered, my friend. Thanks to our partners over at Jace Medical. Life-saving antibiotics and a long list of daily medications can be ordered in a one-year supply. Even ED generics for Cialis viagra and revatio prescriptions go online right now at jacemedical.com to receive your 12-month supply on your daily medication remember to use the promo code locked on at checkout for a discount as well customers are already seeing great rewards with jace medical in fact a verified customer had this to say about chaseace, quote,

I am thankful for this service. Supply chain issues caused me to cut pills in half to have it. I ordered most of my daily meds with a year supply. I also ordered an antibiotic kit. I feel secure now. Prices are lower than local pharmacies. I highly recommend this for everyone. Folks, if you or someone you love would get some peace of mind by having a year's supply of any daily med, go to jacemedical.com to see if it's offered for you. Remember to use the promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N for $20 off your purchase. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots and of course I am honored I am humbled and always thrilled when my good friend and mentor and predecessor here on Locked On Patriots Mark Schofield joins me to talk a little Patriots football and of course

if Mark's here you know we're talking quarterbacks but man's knowledge is not limited to that folks check out all the great work that he does at SB Nation, including some extremely exciting F1 coverage that I can't wait to read. I'm going to let him take the show home today and tell you all about it, so I'm not going to steal his thunder. We're going to keep on point today, my friend, and we're going to continue to talk about Mac Jones. In the previous segment, we talked a lot about what goes into a quarterback's regression, especially with Mac and the difficulties he's having right now,, we talked a lot about what goes into a quarterback's regression, especially with Mack and the difficulties he's having right now, Mark. But a lot of people still wonder whether or not Mack has the ability to remain a starting quarterback in this league. He has the talent to play the position. He did it his rookie season, which arguably should be

your toughest year as an NFL starter. But Max showed poise. He showed the ability to get the job done. Not a perfect season by any stretch of the imagination, but one that gave promise to his future here in New England. Last year, difficulties with the coaches, a lot of confusion really seemed to have taken its toll. And then this year, we're continuing to see the same thing even under Bill O'Brien whose leadership was supposed to right the ship here in New England my question to you today is even if

Mac is benched for a limited time or maybe the rest of the season maybe the Patriots go in a different direction and they try to bring in another quarterback in the draft and we're going to have you back at a later date, my friend, to talk about that subject in just a moment. Too loaded for one show today, folks. But if indeed the Patriots have made the decision to move on from Mac Jones, if he goes elsewhere, or if the Patriots still see something in him that allows them to believe he can still do it here,

what in Mac right now if anything are you seeing that leads you to believe he can still be a competent starting quarterback in the nfl what i'm about to say it doesn't make for the best radio or it doesn't make for the best podcast and or youtube shows but i don't know i honestly i i don't know it's a very the mac jones of his rookie season can still be a starting quarterback in the National Football League. But I think the question becomes, is he broken beyond repair? Now, I don't think so.

Look, there are still things that you can see. The throw that got intercepted at the end of the game against Washington, I know that there are many that sort of crushed that decision. It was the right read and it was the right throw. Like there are still some throws that he is making, some decisions that he is making when he is at his most comfortable and at his most, I'd say, confident that, yeah, you can point to, even if they go poorly like that single play,

and say that's still a starting quarterback in the NFL. But that's one play, snapshot of plays, a smattering of plays. Does the body of work lead me to believe that at this point in time he can, whether it's in New England next season or destination to be named later next season, be a starting quarterback? I don't know. And it goes almost to the underlying evaluation because let's, let's not forget the evaluation process of Mac Jones coming out of Alabama,

which was basically can the more prototypical pocket passer be successful in today's NFL. And there was a lot of debate about that point. And the way I sort of came down on it was, well, when you watch Mac Jones at Alabama, when he's able to get ahead of things with his mind, when he's able to spot glitches and pressure schemes and things like that ahead of time, that gives him the advantage to then, you know,

with the athleticism that he does have, sort of stay ahead of things and scramble ahead of time and bail from pockets ahead of time. But in the years we've been talking about Mac Jones, he hasn't been able to stay ahead for the most part of those things with his mind. We talked about before last season, before this season, identifying pre-snap pressures as a huge thing for him. And it sort of hasn't gotten there.

And so until he sort of gets better in that realm, you're going to see some of the limitations sort of creep up into his game and lead to some mistakes. So, I mean, the line short of it is the TLDR. I don't know. I think in an ideal environment in an ideal situation in an ideal setting where you have a tremendous offensive line great receivers you know all the talents in the world around you yeah he could probably be a starting quarterback in the nfl next season the problem is how many scenarios are there like that in the nfl that would also have a quarterback

open and the simple fact of the matter is rare off, no extremely talented offensive lines. One through five are rare in today's NFL. I was, you know, Dave Archibald, one of my dear friends in the football media space. And,

you know, frankly, generally just wrote a great book, the inches we need. And he had sort of a book release party, you know, on zoom the other night. And I got to be a book release party, you know, on Zoom the other night. And I got to be a part of that along with Dan Hattman,

who spent years in the NFL with the Giants and with the Eagles. And he has a Super Bowl reign from when the Giants beat the Patriots that he just loves to show me all the time. Thanks so much, Dan. I appreciate it. But Dan knows football more than anybody I know. And he made the point that, look, from a roster construction standpoint, a good offensive line has three good offensive linemen.

Now, it could be left tackle, center, right guard. It could be center, left guard, right guard. It could be left tackle, right tackle, center. You don't know the combination. But in today's NFL, with the lack of great offensive linemen out there, a good offensive line has three good players. A great offensive line has four. Do the math.

You might have a great offensive line, but there's still one sort of average player slash weak link. Offensive line is a similar secondary, a weak link position group, where if you're Dan Quinn and you have Micah Parsons and you're going up against a great offensive line that has four great offensive linemen and one weak player, were you a lot in Micah Parsons? It doesn't matter if that weak player is right guard or right tackle or left tackle. That's where Micah Parsons is going. So as a quarterback, even with a great

offensive line, you're still going to be pressured. And again, so to the Mac part of that, where is that sort of environment? You know, the Eagles might have the best offensive line in the league. They're not moving on from Jalen Hurts. And so, again, do I? I don't know. I don't know. The Mac Jones from rookie season, yeah, is probably a starting quarterback in the NFL. But where's that going to be?

I don't know. Yeah, that is such a great point, and especially about comfort level and about picking up and staying ahead. I noticed that you spoke about that earlier, and that is something that we've seen regression from in Mac Jones from day one. I can remember three years ago when he was a rookie, Mark, talking to you right here on these airwaves about, yeah, the only knock on Mac that I'm seeing right now is the second and third level blitzes, not picking them up, and that creates pressure and can create confusion. Last year, you're seeing it an awful lot. You're seeing that regression and continuing pressure, not just from the second and third

level, but he was getting front level pressure as well because of the breakdowns on the offensive line. And this year, and watching a lot of the games back during the bye week in preparation for trying to see if there's something to salvage for the remainder of the season yeah you're seeing that again a lot of those strategic blitzes and front level pressure he's not able to find the comfort level he's not able to find his receivers he's confused coming away with a lot of difficulty so yeah i think there is a lot to be said if If Mack is going to succeed, it has to be in the right environment with the right protection and the right supporting cast around him. Whether that's going to be in New England next year, folks, still anyone's guess.

Patriots have an awful lot of uncertainty that doesn't include the quarterback position. I think it's fair to point out that when we say that Mack like the right set of circumstances around him and the right sort of talent around him in the right environment that's not really a knock on mac jones as a quarterback like a lot of quarterbacks need that you know again we're talking about 32 people on the planet trusted to lose job but how many of them can really be successful regardless of circumstance? I'd say probably a handful, right? Like the Mahomes is of the world. Like there's that often sort of debated question, that hypothetical, what if the bears drafted Mahomes? Is he still Patrick Mahomes? And I'd say he'd probably still be a starting quarterback in the NFL,

probably be a above average one. But do you know if he's really going to be the same guy that we're seeing right now in Kansas City? You know, the context, the situation around the player matters. And for the majority of quarterbacks, you know, they're going to need the right set of circumstances and context around them. It's not really a knock on them. It's just a fact of life in the NFL. And so, you know, when we say that, look, Mack might meet better circumstances around

him to be successful. That's not like a shot at him. That's not a knock on him. That's just the fact that, look, because of where he is as a quarterback and his skill set and his strengths and weaknesses, he's a player that might need a little bit more help than some others. So well said. And if that help is there, folks, it does create a better culture and a better environment for a quarterback. And I'm glad mark you

made that point it's not something that is unique to mac jones there are a lot of quarterbacks that depend on that and when the right environment is there and he's getting the proper protection like you said earlier you are seeing completions made you're seeing sound decisions being made so the seedlings are there folks it's when the environment breaks down or Mack is so far behind that he feels he has to play sped up. That's when you're seeing him open at the top of his drop in the wrong direction. And then the confusion starts setting in. Then he's playing sped up and he's not finding his receivers.

He's not seeing the field properly. And it leads to mistakes and, unfortunately, egregious interceptions, which are really the loudest mistakes that a quarterback can make. Mark, awesome stuff today. Absolutely spot on. I think you've opened the eyes of a lot of Patriots fans when it comes to what Mac Jones has gone through and what he continues to go through on a daily basis. But bottom line, the New England Patriots have to settle on a starting quarterback as of November 26th. Well, all right, maybe a couple of days earlier, but that's their next game coming up against the New York Giants

at Metler Stadium in East Rutherford. If you're Bill Belichick or you're Bill O'Brien, you're the Patriots brass right now making this decision based on what you've seen on film. Who should be the Patriots starter in this game? Should it be Max? Should it be Bailey Zappi? Will Greer is a possibility? Or do they throw caution to the wind to give Malik Cunningham a shot at this,

knowing that the athletic way he plays the game is electrifying? Do they see what this kid can do? Where do the Patriots go from here? If I'm Bill Belichick, if I'm Bill O'Brien, I want to see how Matt Jones responds. Like, I honestly do. I want to see how he sort of answers the call from the way things ended in Germany with that interception.

And then it was, let's be honest. That was a very strange set of circumstances when you still have a chance to win the game and you get benched as a sovereign quarterback for that final drive. Like, like that, that's, that's a slap to the face, wake kind of moment right i want to see how he responds i

want to see how it responds having a bye week and more time to think about it and prepare so i want him to start this game to see what that response is going to be to get to that sort of competitive toughness evaluation of the quarterback position but But then going forward, depending on how he responds and how he performs in this game, I'm very open to the idea of seeing Will Greer. I mean, I remember standing on the field at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for his senior bowl and being part of the media scrum when he was telling us, I've got the best arm in this class.

I'm the best quarterback in this class. And we're all kind of like, eh. But I kind of like that but I kind of like that. I kind of like a quarterback that's confident. So I kind of want to see Will Greer at some point. I want to see Malik Cunningham at some point. I mean, I think you're at the point in the season where let's start the roster evaluation process now, because if you're working under the assumption that,

you know, unless you see something from Mac Jones this week against the Giants that we haven't seen this season or, frankly, the past two seasons, like a return to form and that sort of response and that, okay, well, wait a second. Maybe there is something here. Like if you see that kind of game, absent that, you're in the quarterback evaluation business. You're in the roster evaluation business.

And you're starting to think, okay, well, if Mac Jones is not not here who is our qb2 behind qb to be named later like you're starting that process so it's time to get a look at what will greer might look like with a week to prepare or what malik cunningham might look like with a week to prepare or do some different things like maybe you start will greer but okay what's going to look Malik Cunningham has to come in the middle of the game? You know, when our starting quarterback next year gets hurt, you throw them into situations. You're in an evaluation portion of the calendar year now. You're not in a let's go win games to make the playoffs.

That door's closed. You're in an evaluation process now. So start evaluating players in different scenarios. This is, you you know i know the belichick question is out there but this is a coach's death that is pride of itself on players having situational awareness let's evaluate them in different situations let's evaluate them as a starting quarterback let's evaluate them as a qb coming off the bench or whatever situation you want to put them in and start getting a feel for what you have on this roster now. So you know what you need to address come January two.

Absolutely. Very, very well said. And I agree with you. I think that if there is a situation where a change is going to be made, I'm not completely sure it is this week. And maybe you can make the argument folks. And believe me, I mean, we can, you know, definitely understand that where the relationship may be fractured or Mac Jones may be broken beyond repair, like Mark said earlier.

But bottom line, I think the fact that he took first team reps on Wednesday in practice shows that the Patriots are at least thinking in that direction to say, OK, he took the hit. Now let's see if he can move forward, to quote Rocky Balboa. It's all about taking the hits and moving forward. That's how winning is done, folks. Maybe Mac Jones has a little inner Rocky in him. Maybe he doesn't, but we'll see in the course of the next couple of weeks. And I also agree with you that you're at the stage of two and eight,

where you have to start evaluating the roster. So maybe we will see some Will Greer and maybe a little Malik Cunningham mixed in. I know Patriots fans will be excited to see that. And bottom line, Mark, we always are honored, grateful, humbled by your wisdom and counsel every time you come on here to Lockdown Patriots, especially when it comes to evaluating the quarterback position. A true masterclass, my friend. You are the excellence of execution. I thank you for coming on today.

And it's always great to be able to catch up with you. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you and what type of amazing content, including the F1 that I teased earlier, coming from the great pen, the great voice of Mark Scofield. Well, Mike, as always, look, it's an absolute honor to be here and to be with you and to talk ball with you.

I love it every time we get to do it. Wish we could do more of it. As far as me, look look my job is taking some interest in twists and turns because lately the focus has honestly been uh the formula one world we've got the inaugural las vegas grand prix that's going to be an absolute spectacle and it may be more chaos than you might expect um because apparently they didn't realize that it got cold at night in the desert in november but it will. And that might lead to a disaster. So, yeah, it's going to be a bit of a spectacle.

We had an opening ceremonies on Wednesday night. The timing is going to be brutal. For example, if you're an F1 fan on the East Coast, the race starts at 1 a.m. Sunday morning. The qualified is going to be 3 a.m. Saturday morning. So it's going to be some late nights or early mornings. But in the past couple of weeks, I've gotten to talk to Zach Brown, the CEO of mclaren i'm going to talk to valtteri botas driver for alfa romeo i just a couple of nights ago talked to oscar piastri the rookie driver for mclaren who's having what many people are calling the best rookie season since lewis hamilton it's been a strange whirlwind where

suddenly i'm i'm having a night like yesterday where i'm talking or two nights ago where i'm talking to oscar piastri and then I'm coming to talk quarterbacks with you. So I get pulled in a lot of different directions, but it keeps me alive, keeps me awake, and it keeps me highly caffeinated. But, Mike, it's been a blast. If you want to check out the F1 stuff, that's great. You can check it out at SBNation.com. If you're bored to tears with F1 and with Max Verstappen winning

every single week, I get it. Then you can check out all the football work we get over at SBNation.com as well. Definitely. And folks, as I always say, and I completely mean when it comes to Mark, anytime he puts voice to microphone and to paper, it's appointment viewing, appointment reading. You're always more informed

and really, if you're reading Mark's stuff, you're probably going to be better informed than mostly anyone else around you because he is phenomenal i always say the total poster in front of me is always there it's never coming down i look at it for inspiration each and every day you've set a phenomenal table here for me at locked on patriots i'm truly honored to take this microphone every day in your honor and like like I said, still trying to get it right. And hopefully someday I might be able to get there. But bottom line, folks, we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to spend with us here on Locked On Patriots. Folks, I am Mike DeBate, and I remind you to stay safe and to stay well and to be the

change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow to wrap up bi-week coverage here on Locked On Patriots.