The Greg Hill Show: Bill Belichick joins live from Gillette, talks Mac Jones, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Taylor Swift
Patriots Mondays are back on WEEI and, as is tradition, New England’s head coach joined The Greg Hill Show to talk all things Foxborough football.
Bill Belichick spoke specifically about his quarterback, Mac Jones, and how he’s progressed into a new system run by offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien:
“Well I think all the quarterbacks have made, I think the whole team has really made a lot of progress since we’ve started in the spring with OTAs, and minicamp, and then training camp,” Belichick said. “We’re doing things a lot better than we did, and we still have a long way to go. That’s everybody. Football’s a team sport so, whatever one person does is affected by a lot of other people that he’s around, and he affects a lot of other people as well.
“It’s always a process of timing, coming together, communication, execution. Those are things that are definitely improving. We saw that this was a big week for us with the practice against the Packers, it really helped us, but we still have a lot of work to do. It’s a process, we’re getting there. But we’re definitely not there yet.”
Greg followed this answer up by asking if Jones is where he’d expect a quarterback to be heading into his third season:
“Everybody’s different, I’ve coached a couple thousand players, they’re all different,” Belichick said. “No two are the same. You take it day-by-day, week-by-week, year-by-year.”
Belichick added: “Mac’s got a great routine, he works hard, trains hard, is in here a lot, studies a lot of film, stays on top of things. That quarterback room, Trace and Bailey and Mac, they all, that’s a hard-working group. They put in a lot of time, a lot of effort and I respect that.”
This week, reports out of Green Bay were that Belichick reamed out his quarterback at practice for a miscommunication during a two-minute drill. Mac then took the blame, and followed up with a stellar session the following day. His coach downplayed the interaction:
“I don’t think I put the heat on anybody. There are things that we need to correct and work out. That’s just coaching.”
When asked about his quarterback's transition through three offensive coordinators in three years, Belichick said, “Mac’s a pretty flexible guy. He’s smart, gets along well with everybody. I wouldn’t expect that to be a problem.”
the greg hill show: Bill Belichick says he didn't speak to the Packers about Aaron Rodgers in the off season
For a relationship that has been put under the microscope ad nauseum, Belichick sounds comfortable with his signal caller heading into 2023. It also sounds like they were in no position to add another quarterback this offseason despite, rumors to the contrary:
“Yeah I’m not really sure what you’re referring to,” the head coach said when asked about WFAN’s Craig Carton’s report of the Patriots inquiring about trading for Aaron Rodgers this spring. “I personally couldn’t speak to that… I don’t know what he’s really talking about. I personally didn’t talk to the Packers about Aaron Rodgers, no.”
the greg hill show: Belichick says Brady deserves more than 1 day to celebrate him and a statue
As far as his previous franchise quarterback, Tom Brady, Bill had plenty of praise for him, speaking to the ‘Thank You, Tom’ game coming up week one versus the Eagles:
“I’ve spoken to Tom a couple times. Always looking forward to seeing Tom. What a great experience and opportunity it was for me to coach Tom. Tremendous appreciation for everything he did for me, did for our team, everything he gave us. Look forward to seeing him… I’m sure there will be a lot of excitement at the game, in the stands. As there should be. He’s done an awful lot for this organiztion, this franchise, this city, the National Football League. One night probably really not enough, anywhere close to being enough for the appreciation Tom deserves. It was a great opportunity for me. I feel very fortunate to have coached Tom, Lawrence Taylor, Matthew Slater. The three top players at their positions on offense, defense, special teams. I feel pretty lucky as a coach.”
Does Brady deserve a statue outside of Gillette Stadium?
“You can give him whatever you want, yeah.”
Belichick will join WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show every Monday morning this season as a part of our “Patriots Mondays”. New England’s preseason continues this Friday in Nashville for their final exhibition matchup versus the Titans.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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