We finally heard it straight from Bill Belichick on Thursday: Mac Jones is indeed the clear starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.
ESPN's Field Yates already reported as much the day before after noting Jones took the lion's share of practice reps with the first-team offense on Wednesday. Additionally, Jones didn't appear on the post-practice injury report, which is a sign he's fully healthy at last.
The coach confirmed that Jones is now getting a "full workload" at practice and preparing as the top quarterback for the game: “[Jones] took a full workload yesterday and I expect him to be fully available for the game and ready to go.”
Belichick suggested Jones was not ready yet to play a full game on Monday night, which begs the question of why he played at all.
Also, the coach wouldn't discuss "hypotheticals" about the quarterback position going forward, leaving open the possibility that Bailey Zappe could return to the starting lineup in some scenario where Jones was struggling or not 100 percent health-wise.
But Belichick did make a crucial admission: Jones' status as the starting quarterback was directly tied to his health.
“[Jones] was ready to play last week, but just didn’t feel it was the full game. This week is a different situation,” he said.
This would seem to confirm what many suspected about how the Patriots view the quarterback position in the big picture. It was never about how Zappe performed and what he could do to take and retain the quarterback job. It was all about Jones being ready to play.
The quarterback question has been answered. For now.
