The Patriots drafted quarterback Mac Jones at No. 15 overall in the spring, setting him up to take over as New England’s QB1 at some point in the near future.
But entering training camp, the starting job still presumably belongs to Cam Newton — who has said he feels much more comfortable entering his second season with the franchise.
Head coach Bill Belichick was asked in his Tuesday press conference if there is an open competition at quarterback. In his customary way, Belichick deflected the question.
“Yeah, as I said, every one of us has to go out and establish our level of performance in whatever our role or capacity is,” Belichick told reporters. “So it’s a new season. We’ve done some things in the spring, but this is really the start of football season in terms of the team-building part in training camp. So we all have a lot of work to do, that includes all of us. So, until we go out and do anything, it’s pretty much a clean slate.”
The follow-up question came: Does that clean slate include the quarterbacks?
“Including the coaches and all the players,” Belichick said.
It’s no real surprise that Belichick isn’t tipping his hand at all when it comes to what New England might do at QB. At this point, it seems like Newton will be behind center in Week One against the Dolphins. But how long Newton will be able to fend off the challenge from Jones is anyone’s guess.