Bill Belichick had a succinct response when asked about Mac Jones’s frustration

Belichick had much more to say about Marcus Jones and Josh Uche.

Bill Belichick prior to the Patriots-Cardinals game. AP Photo/Darryl Webb

December 13, 2022

2 minutes to read

The Patriots beat the Cardinals on Monday night, keeping hopes alive of a potential playoff berth. New England now turns its attention to a Sunday matchup against the Raiders in Las Vegas.

On Tuesday morning, Bill Belichick joined WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” to offer some thoughts on the game.

Belichick was asked by show host Greg Hill if he “likes to see” quarterback Mac Jones show frustration openly, with Hill citing an example when it appeared the play call wasn’t getting to him fast enough during the game in Arizona.

“Well, we all want to get the plays in on time,” Belichick said in response.

Hill followed up by asking if Jones’s body language — expressing his frustration — “shows the passion there with the player.”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Belichick replied, offering nothing more on the subject.

One player the Patriots’ coach did have more words for was do-it-all rookie Marcus Jones. The 2022 third-round pick played a team high 86 snaps on Monday night (eight on offense, 67 on defense, and 11 on special teams).

Jones became the first player in the Super Bowl era to record at least 10 yards receiving, make an interception, defend two passes, and record at least seven tackles all in the same game.

Did Belichick know how productive Jones would be when the Patriots picked him?

“We drafted him because we thought he was a good player who would help our team,” Belichick said. “The path that he’s traveled this year has been one of recovery from the two surgeries he had in the offseason last year.

“It’s been a progression and a process for him,” Belichick continued. “He’s worked hard and done all he could the whole way. It’s just been a question of when you put a load on him, and then when Jack [Jones] got hurt last night, he ended up playing almost every snap on defense after Jack went out. So he ended up with a lot of playing time, but Marcus is a smart kid who’s in good condition and we’ll see how it goes.”

Turning his attention to pass rusher Josh Uche, Belichick noted that the most important thing in the 24-year-old’s recent rise has been his durability.

Uche’s production has erupted in recent weeks. After posting zero sacks in his first five games this year, Uche now has 10 in his last six games, including three against the Cardinals.

“The biggest thing with Josh has just been availability,” Belichick said. “He’s been healthy, been on the field almost every day in practice, hasn’t missed any time. Unfortunately, over the last couple years, he’s kind of been in and out with a week here, a week there, two weeks here, a week there, and that hurts the progress of a player. It’s hard to get into that rhythm and hard to keep building your fundamentals and techniques and keep improving, whereas this year he’s been out there every day and he can work on things that are fundamental for him, but also some new things.

“And he can work with his teammates and on timing, communication, reads, recognition, all that just gets better with more experience, especially for a player in his third year like Josh,” added Belichick. “So I think that’s been the big thing. He’s always been a guy that we want to get on the field.”