Former Patriots Linebacker Shreds Mac Jones Over Practice Criticism

Head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t really happy following the loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Belichick said that players didn’t play well and also criticized coaches for not coaching well. His rookie quarterback shares the same opinion. Mac Jones made some comments about Patriots practice this week and drew criticism for acting this way.

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson slammed Belichick’s first rounder during his appearance on NBC10 Boston.

“When you’re a rookie quarterback, you’re not supposed to say stuff like that,” Johnson said Sunday.

Mac Jones won’t pay much attention to practice criticism

The NBC analyst didn’t stop here. Johnson believes that Jones actually spoke in the name of his head coach.

“I was surprised by that because it was so off-script for Mac Jones,” Johnson said. “He’s always stuck to the script — cliché 101. This time he went off script and I was really surprised to hear him say that we were feeling sorry for ourselves. About what? You just came off a bye week. Is it because you played on a Monday night and then you had to play on a Saturday night? Get over it, boys. It’s ring-chasing time now.

“And him saying they had a bad week of practice and that their energy level was low — you’re a rookie, keep your mouth shut. That’s not going to play well in the locker room. My feeling is Bill Belichick probably had him say it. I think Bill Belichick wanted the message to go through Mac Jones, call out his players. It would be atypical of Bill this year to come down really hard on this team. So, to me, that was some orders from Bill because I can’t imagine Mac Jones going off-script like he did, criticizing the team’s energy and their preparation going into this week. When you’re a rookie quarterback, you’re not supposed to say stuff like that.”

? @Teddyjradio has a theory on why Mac Jones said the team didn't have a good week of practice after Saturday night's loss pic.twitter.com/cJ6VBJW998

— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) December 20, 2021

One thing stands for sure. Belichick and his players will use Saturday’s loss as a motivation for the upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills. Yes, their winning streak is broken but they will sure make the playoffs this season. They missed the chance to win the big game in 2020. It won’t happen again.