The jury is still out as to who'll be the starting quarterback for the Patriots when they begin the 2021 regular season. So far, Cam Newton and first-round rookie Mac Jones have been going toe-to-toe throughout the summer in one of the more high-profile position battles that have come across Foxborough in quite some time. Naturally, this battle has been put under the microscope in every way imaginable, including who is playing in front of the projected starting offensive line.
Both Newton and Jones have seen time with the first-team O-line, but it was the incumbent starter who saw the bulk of the action with the ones during Monday's joint practice with the Eagles. Newton also was playing against Philly's first-team defense. Meanwhile, Jones saw some work with the starters but largely playing with the second unit. Both quarterbacks saw time with the projected starting receivers and running backs.
When asked about the offensive line/quarterback pairings on Tuesday, Bill Belichick highlighted how he doesn't want his players concerned with who is around them when they are on the field.
"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 said, via Zack Cox of NESN. "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, if we would focus on what our job is, how to do it well, how to do it better, how to improve on it. Again, that's all of us -- coaches, players, everybody. That's really what we're trying to do, and spending a lot of time worrying about who else is doing something else and who else is out there or not out there or whatever is honestly a total waste of time and energy. And it's not productive, so we don't really worry about it.
"I think it's a lot more important for the offensive linemen to play with the offensive linemen than it is for the quarterback to play with the offensive line. The same thing on defense. It's (more) important for the linebackers to play with the linebackers than it is for the linebackers to play with the secondary or whatever, and you just keep going. The punt team, those guys need to be ready to work with each other, but at the same time, if somebody else is in there for whatever reason, then the most important thing is for them to do their job properly and work with whoever it is next to them. That's something they can't control. If we start worrying about all the things we can't control, I'd say it's going to be a long year."
Belichick is essentially telling his players to worry only about the things that they can control, which is the right mindset to have. If Jones, Newton or any player in the midst of a position battle is too focused on where he is on the totem pole on a particular day, it has the chance to curb their ability to truly climb the depth chart. After all, they aren't the ones ultimately making the decision, so there's really no point in allowing it to be a distraction from their on-field play.
Of course, that likely won't stop anyone on the outside of the Patriots organization from tallying the number of times players are with the first or second-team offense and using it to try and project who may be in the lead for a given position. If Monday was any indication, Jones may still be a ways away from unseating Newton as New England's clear-cut starter on the depth chart.
