Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones have been under fire since Sunday’s embarrassing 34–0 home loss to the Saints.
It was Belichick’s biggest loss at home in his NFL career in terms of point differential, coming one week after the biggest overall loss in his career (38–3 to the Cowboys).
It’s not surprising that Belichick’s job was one of the most discussed topics on Monday sports shows. ESPN’s Get Up dove deep into the Patriots’ issues, beginning with Belichick and Jones.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky argued that Jones would be “playing like Brock Purdy” if he was on the 49ers. But co-analyst Rex Ryan immediately disagreed.
“Oh, God no, there’s no chance,” Ryan said in response to Orlovsky. “He’d be better than he is, but if you think he’s going to play like Brock Purdy, you haven’t paid attention to Brock Purdy. That’s a slap in his face.”
"If Mac Jones was in San Francisco, he would be playing like Brock Purdy."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 9, 2023
👀 @danorlovsky7 pic.twitter.com/Riny8cGmCf
There isn’t much to compare about Jones and Purdy, as the Patriots are 1–4 and the 49ers are 5–0. Purdy has zero interceptions, while Jones has thrown an NFL-worst six this season.
The one thing ESPN’s entire panel, including Damian Woody and Mike Greenberg, could agree on, is that Belichick is primarily to blame for New England’s struggles.