Breaking News: Growing Tension Between Patriots & Mac Jones?
There could be a variety of answers to why Mac is frustrated with the Patriots; this could include: Not having an offensive coordinator, an elite wide receiver, or engaged tackles to protect him, but it is not the reason.
Mac Jones, unfortunately, suffered a “severe” high ankle sprain on the final offensive play in the 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. This injury has ruined the season for players like Saquan Barkley (New York Giants), Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers), Jerry Jeudy (Denver Broncos) and the list goes on. They return in the same season but never look 100% because something feels slightly wrong.
Mac Jones is a player who needs to be at playing at peak performance, a hindered version of Mac could get him hurt worse and further delay the future. Unfortunately, there seems to be a disconnect between the Patriots and Mac on handling this sprain. Currently, there are two options, Mac can get surgery and be available in four weeks, or he forgoes the knife and waits six to eight weeks for it to heal on its own.
Bill & The Patriots Reportedly Want Mac To Get Surgery
Naturally, Belichick is trying to get his starting quarterback back to the team as soon as possible, so they are pushing to have him get the TightRope surgery. Here is a small description of the procedure from scio.com
“This technique is used to stabilize an ankle after injury. It can be used to repair a high ankle sprain, which damages the soft tissue structures between the tibia and fibula and causes these bones to separate. It can also be used to stabilize a fracture of the fibula. The TightRope system anchors the ends of the tibia and fibula together with a braided polyethylene cord, rather than with a rigid surgical screw, to restore the original position of the bones and to allow for proper healing.” Southern California Orthopedic Institute
This isn’t major surgery, but most athletes typically fear going under the knife, especially so early in their careers. Mac is no different. He is uncertain that he needs the surgery in order to rush back. This team also has issues watching his blind side. Our backup plan seems to be a few years away in either direction (Hoyer to old or Zappe to young) and Bill knows that this would be an uphill battle without Mac for four weeks. The fact that Hoyer has lost his last eleven starts and Zappe looked inconsistent in his preseason action certainly doesn’t help. If he doesn’t elect to get the TightRope procedure and is out eight weeks the Patriots’ season could be over.
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Mac Jones Doesn’t Want The Surgery
This is where the disconnect between Jones and the Patriots comes into play, Mac has indicated that he prefers to not get the TightRope surgery as in this most recent tweet from Dakota Randall of NESN suggest.
Here's the @nflnetwork report about Mac Jones preferring to avoid ankle surgery and instead rest, rehab and get a PRP injection pic.twitter.com/mCMRskYd7a — Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) September 27, 2022
If Mac doesn’t think surgery is the best course of action then so be it, let him take the time he needs to get back to 100%. It’s not like Jones doesn’t work hard, he will do anything he needs to do in order to rehab himself back to playing shape. However, this does exclude rushing him back when he isn’t fully healthy.
I believe the two sides disagree on how to proceed moving forward which is why Mac is going to get a second and possibly third opinion. It is not a relationship-altering disagreement but with the slow start of the season, play-call/schematic questions, and offensive line issues, there does seem to be some tension.
Conclusion
I think that Mac’s injury is causing some friction with the Patriots, Mac is going to do what is best for Mac. In my mind that is also what is best for the Patriots in the long term because I do belive Mac can be the guy to lead us to another title but not with what is around him currently. Add that with the fact that he would be at less than 100% is just a bad recipe. I side with Mac vs with the Patriots on this particular topic.
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