Bill Belichick thinks it’s a ‘waste of time’ focusing on which player is getting first-team reps
"It's not productive, so we don't need to worry about it."
While it’s often accurate to judge a player’s place on the team depth chart by whether or not he’s practicing with the other starters, Bill Belichick apparently disagrees.
The Patriots’ coach can be unpredictable in his personnel decisions, and took issue when asked how difficult it might be to get rookie quarterback Mac Jones — currently playing less with the starters than incumbent Cam Newton — more time with the first team.
“Look, we’ve told all the players from back in May when we started — which is the absolute truth — not to spend a lot of time worrying about who else is out there with you,” Belichick told reporters on Tuesday. “Worry about what you’re doing and try to get it right. I think that’s the most important thing for each and every one of us is if we would focus on what our job is, how to do it well, how to do it better, how to improve on it.”
Though Newton has been getting a majority of practice reps with the first team, Belichick dismissed the idea that it meant Jones (or other players in a similar circumstance at another position) couldn’t come in and play.
“Spending a lot of time worrying about who else is doing something else and who else is out there and not out there or whatever is honestly a total waste of time and energy,” Belichick explained. “It’s not productive, so we don’t need to worry about it.”
Newton, asked about if Belichick had named him the Week 1 starter, told reporters on Monday that the Patriots’ coach “hasn’t said that.”
Jones played with several Patriots starters for a portion of the first preseason game against Washington, continuing as New England’s quarterback into the second half when backup players came into the game alongside him.
The Patriots continue the preseason on Thursday against the Eagles at 7:30 p.m.
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