The greg hill show: Pats LB Jahlani Tavai joins, says neither Mac or Bill lost the locker room
The rumor mill is running rampant around Foxborough this week as the Patriots head into their bye week at 2-8, with Belichick's looming job status and Mac Jones' support in the locker room at the forefront.
On Wednesday, the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan reported that New England's locker room is '80-20' out on Mac Jones as the quarterback. Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai was asked about this on Thursday's edition of WEEI's The Greg Hill Show:
"I don't know who said that, but he hasn't lost any of us," he said. "Yeah, that's wild. He hasn't lost any of us on the team, so. It'll be a good week for him to just get away from football and when he gets back, I hope that he knows that all 52 other guys are ready to get after it with him."
Tavai was then asked if Jones' treatment by the media, specifically the calls for his job, are unfair:
"I mean, if somebody out there in the world thinks that they can do a better job, they can try and sign up," the linebacker said. "Being a quarterback is one of the toughest positions, so my hat goes off to him for keeping his poise, you know, week in and week out. I don't think they see the hard work that he puts into this. Into his work. He's one of the first guys in the building and probably the last one out.
He continued: "[Jones is] working his tail off to improve himself every week and that's just from what I'm seeing. So, I have nothing but respect for Mac. All the outside noise, you know, I really, I truly don't really care about it. Like I just want him to know that we got his back."
While the Patriots have yet to name a starting quarterback since Jones was benched last Sunday in Germany, he did notably take the teams 'starter' reps at Wednesday's line bye-week practice. We'll see what happens moving forward when the team returns to Foxborough on Tuesday.
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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