Accountability is becoming an issue of late down in Foxboro
The New England Patriots fell to 2-7 as they lost to the Washington Commanders 20-17 on Sunday afternoon. The game was ugly, but the lack of accountability was even uglier in the postgame.
Cornerbacks JC Jackson and Jack Jones were on the bench in the first quarter. Jackson sat the first two drives and Jones sat the whole first quarter.
The benching was due to recent performance issues and not any sort of injuries, per The Athletic’s Jeff Howe.
Head Coach Bill Belichick, per usual, had very little to say on the situation when asked if the players got benched.
“No.” was the initial response on his two defensive backs and when pushed to elaborate, “everybody played, they all played. We played all the corners, I think we played all the safeties. We played everybody on defense.”
Belichick is known for his snarky answers with the media, but when you are 2-7 this schtick becomes less and less palatable. Not only for fans, but also the locker room. Players are visibly frustrated as the season continues downhill.
Captains Mac Jones and David Andrews that took accountability, but Jackson and Jones didn’t speak to the media.
“I’m not talking,” said Jackson to reporters after the game. Jones left the building before media availability in the locker room.
Instead Jones took to social media and posted on X and recorded an Instagram story. Most notably he liked this post below, which he has since went back and un-liked.
Comparing prison to playing for the Patriots is extreme, but it speaks to the current dysfunction that is taking place in Foxboro. Jones, if he did plead guilty to his alleged gun charges at Logan Airport last offseason, would have gone to jail.
Jones draft stock dropped in the 2022 NFL Draft, due to breaking into a Panda Express in the middle of the night. In the winning days, a troubled player that was not performing well would have been released.
Belichick continues to publicly not take accountability for their dismal record. You have to wonder how much longer all the trouble will be kept in house and remain status quo. This goes for not just the players, but other coaches and most importantly owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft hasn’t spoken on record about the issues so far. Not speaking to the media is typical for Kraft during the season, but this 2-7 Patriots team is off to their worst start since 2000. It is hard to imagine with teams that have a similar records already making changes that there will be no roster or coaching changes for nine more games.
Losing games will result in losing much more. The locker room will be lost if it isn’t already. Fans will be less likely to attend cold December games. The NFL will start flexing primetime games away from New England as they fall further down. Buckle up, as this embarrassment of a season is only halfway over.
Follow Matt on Twitter @Bstrong415
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