One photo could be telling quite the story.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft hosted a Fourth of July party at his Hampton estate, with a guest list featuring Tom Brady and Devin McCourty, and a guest performance by Dave Matthews, as Page Six reported.
McCourty, a longtime standout safety for the Patriots, posted a photo to Instagram of himself, Brady and current Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, seemingly from the event.
The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin theorized on how well that photo depicts the divergent feelings Kraft Patriots coach Bill Belichick have toward the Patriots’ third-year quarterback.
“But Jones? Already getting the invite to the Hamptons after two mediocre seasons with the Patriots? Wow,” Volin wrote.
It would appear that Kraft’s confidence in Jones hasn’t soured the way Belichick’s seemed to during the 2022 season.
It would appear that Jones’ relationship with Kraft is growing leaps and bounds, while, Belichick’s may have cooled on the first-round pick.
Belichick flirted with rookie backup Bailey Zappe during the 2022 regular season, wavering on switching back to Jones when the former Alabama star returned from an ankle injury.
Belichick failed to name Jones the starter in March while saying there would be an open competition at the position and “the best player will play.”
And Volin noted that Belichick has barely uttered Jones’ name throughout the early part of the offseason.
“It provides more context to the goings-on at 1 Patriot Place, and the power dynamics between the Krafts and Bill Belichick,” Volin wrote of Kraft’s invite to Jones.
“Robert Kraft already made it clear in March that he wants the Patriots to make the postseason and win a playoff game for the first time in five years. He also paid Jerod Mayo handsomely to keep him off the coaching market and likely views him as the team’s coach-in-waiting. And Belichick’s friends have privately said they are worried that he is on the hot seat in 2023.”
Multiple reports had suggested that Jones had a rocky relationships with his coaches as Joe Judge and Matt Patricia led the offense last season.
The frustration went both ways.
According to NBC Sports’ Chris Simms, Jones went outside the Patriots and behind Belichick’s back searching for ways to fix a flailing offense.
Judge has been removed from the offensive staff after a disastrous season, adding that he will work on the special teams “in some capacity.”
The Patriots brought in former Texans coach Bill O’Brien to be the new offensive coordinator this offseason.
The Brady-Kraft relationship has teetered at times, though six Super Bowls has certainly helped smooth out some difficulties.
Most recently, Belichick seemed to gripe about the Patriots being one of the lowest cash-spending teams in the league.
Boston Sports Journal founder Greg A. Bedard brought the comments up to Kraft.
“He says, ‘(Belichick) has never come to me and not gotten everything he wanted from a cash-spending perspective. We have never set limits.’ And he further went on to say, ‘Money spending will never be the issue, I promise you, or I’ll sell the team.’ So that’s pretty definitive,” Bedard told NBC Sports Boston.
Jones has made a point in saying that he looks forward to “a fresh start” in 2023 and “earn[ing] the respect of everybody in this building again.”
The Patriots report for camp at the end of July, where Jones will look to showcase his improvement after a rough 8-9 season.
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