Former Patriot to Bill Belichick: It’s time to give Mac Jones a little love

Coming off of his worst performance as a Patriot, Mac Jones needs to find a way to get right.

He needs to fix what’s broken. Or, at the very least, Jones needs to get back to where he’s feeling more confident under center if the Patriots have any chance of getting out of their 1-3 hole.

The best way to accomplish the mission?

Speaking with Ted Johnson during the latest “Eye on Foxborough” podcast, the three-time Super Bowl winner believes Bill Belichick holds the key.

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While it’s a bit late to get Jones better weapons, or a more capable offensive line, Johnson believes Belichick can still help when it comes to Jones’ mindset, especially after being pulled from the Dallas game in the third quarter.

The two had issues last season when Belichick gave his quarterback two inexperienced coaches to work with on offense in Matt Patricia and Joe Judge last season. Belichick, in turn, reportedly didn’t appreciate Jones going outside of the organization to seek help and advice.

That tension extended into training camp, although that appeared to ease somewhat. With Bill O’Brien now running the offense, and Belichick at least using Jones’ name when asked questions about him, there seemed to be a bit of a thaw. Even so, Johnson thinks Belichick can further help the situation.

“Bill has it in him to go and extend the proverbial olive branch. He’s done it with me. We’ve had our issues in the past,” Johnson said on the podcast. “And Bill came up to me at a certain point in the middle of the season, when we were at the height of our problems behind the scenes, and he said, ‘Ted, we’ve got to work this out.’’’

Johnson agreed to hear what Belichick had to say, and as it turned out, that’s just what the doctor ordered. That’s why he’d like to see Belichick approach Jones with the same type of conversation in mind.

“That was all it took for me to clear my head, and put my stuff that I had with Bill behind me. I played two-and-a-half more years for him, and it was fine,” he said. “It’s really up to Bill to decide that he wants to go to Mac and say, ‘Let’s bury the hatchet, you and I, and I support you, I’m behind you, let’s do this together.’

“At the end of the day, that’s what Mac needs. Because it’s hard for Mac to go out there and play at a high level, and play with confidence and self-assuredness if he feels like he doesn’t have the support of the head coach,” Johnson went on. “It’s very difficult to play quarterback at this level, with any kind of confidence, if he’s feeling like maybe the head coach is going to undermine him, doesn’t support him, doesn’t really like him. It’s very hard to go out there and be the best version of yourself if that’s the case.”