Mac Jones Disputes ‘Garbage’ Report from Fox Sports

As though New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones wasn’t having enough issues on the field, there is now more off-field topics to deal with as well. This time it was not for anything Jones himself did or didn’t do. Following Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints “anonymous sources” surfaced and Mac Jones was forced to answer for them.

Henry McKenna of Fox Sports wrote an article stating that Bill Belichick had nobody to blame but himself for the “Patriots downfall.” His piece in large part was meant to show how the entire roster is in disarray because of Belichick. He cites the poor drafting and free agent signings in recent years, as Patriots Football Now mentioned in a recent article as well.

McKenna then put an exclamation point on this thought with a quote from an unnamed source. He wrote:

“No matter how good of cook you are, you cannot make garbage taste good,” a source close to Jones told FOX Sports on Sunday after the game. “Even if it was not Mac at QB, what QB would want to play here under these conditions?”

Of course, Henry McKenna or even Bill Belichick were not the ones put under the microscope because of this. The person questioned about the quote was Mac Jones. Does the quarterback really think his teammates are garbage? To extend the analogy further, does Mac Jones believe he is a good chef? His play of late certainly indicates otherwise. But as the Patriots Report Card indicates, he is far from alone in his struggles.

Former New England Patriots player turned Matt Chatham seemed to know this source was doing Mac Jones no favors, and he was right. Chatham took to Twitter/X with some advice for the source, stating:

Now is not a time for “a source close to [anyone]” to gripe about or disparage anyone else. You’re absolutely not helping that player by saying as much. Whatever shot you take at someone else, it cannot-does not explain your friend’s own performance. Far too many wholly independent mistakes to fall back into talking about anyone else. And in fairness to the player, he’s not saying any of this publicly himself. So to repeat, you’re not helping him. At all.
– @chatham58

Now is not a time for “a source close to [anyone]” to gripe about or disparage anyone else. You’re absolutely not helping that player by saying as much. Whatever shot you take at someone else, it cannot-does not explain your friend’s own performance. Far too many wholly…

— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) October 9, 2023

Matt Chatham makes the important point that “in fairness to the player (Mac Jones), he’s not saying any of this publicly himself.” But of course, this didn’t stop all of it from falling back into his lap.

On Monday Mac Jones did his weekly interview on WEEI’s Jones & Mego with Arcand show. When asked about this ‘garbage’ report, Jones stated, “I disagree with that; we have a really talented group of guys that I’ve been fortunate to work with.”

With anyone identified as a “source close to Mac Jones” the person in question could be basically anyone. A relative, friend, former teammate, acquaintance, etc. Furthermore, the comment itself was that person’s opinion, not that of Mac Jones. Even McKenna did not indicate the source thought Mac Jones felt that way.

More distractions for Mac Jones are the last thing he needs. The struggling QB doesn’t need fans to have more reasons to turn on him either. This season there has been talk (once again) of Mac Jones being a dirty player. Unspecified rumors have been floated about him by Colin Cowherd. All the while he is trying to win football games and keep his starting quarterback job.

For now, Mac Jones did a nice job squashing another foolish story before it got too much steam. Matt Chatham, having been around the New England Patriots for over two decades, certainly knew how this would play out. Now the best thing Jones can do moving forward is play the best football of his career. If the supporting cast is the only problem, it will be obvious without unnamed sources needing to chime in.