QB Sneak: Kraft, Belichick Fighting Over Patriots’ Mac Jones?
The latest episode of "Foxborough High" just might center on an apparent cool kid party.
That's certainly one way to view the latest intel from Ben Volin, the New England Patriots insider for the Boston Globe. Volin took note of quarterback Mac Jones' attendance at an Independence Day party thrown by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, one also graced by the prescience of established team legends Tom Brady and Devin McCourty.
The fact that Jones, whose Patriots production has proven middling at best, is getting invites to Kraft's fortress in the Hamptons could spell "trouble" for Belichick.
"It’s why the question of “How is Mac Jones viewed inside the Patriots?” is difficult to answer,” Volin writes. “It depends on whom you ask: the coach or the owners. I had a brief interaction with Jonathan Kraft this spring, and it was clear that he passionately defends and protects Jones. Now, Jones is apparently getting the invite to the Hamptons to party with both Robert and Jonathan. Jones appeared to be one of the few, if not only, current Patriots to get an invite."
Every move the Patriots make with Brady officially retired will be judged through the lens of winning the franchise's first championship without him. Through two seasons, Jones has appeared to be equally capable of both succeeding and failing in that mission. Year four without the GOAT will all but certainly lead to firings and/or lineup changes if it falls short of the postseason, which would create their first multi-year playoff drought since 1999-2000.
Belichick's public apathy toward Jones, which culminated in trade rumors at the onset of the offseason, has been toned down but the shockwaves created in Foxborough haven't died quite yet. The fact that Jones remains on the Krafts' guest list, while far from a confirmation, hints that they want him to be the team's post-Brady poster boy.
That kind of power is certainly a volatile card to play for a young quarterback finding his professional game, especially with his equally embattled coach on the cusp of NFL history (the record for most wins as a head coach).
"(The Krafts) are invested in Jones succeeding," said. Volin. “Belichick, meanwhile, barely wants to say Jones’ name in public."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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