Patriots' Mac Jones addresses if he has support of teammates

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones insists he still has the support of teammates despite his lackluster play and certain rumblings hovering over the franchise this fall. 

"I have a lot of respect for the guys on our team," Jones explained during a Monday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, per Patriots beat reporter Zack Cox of NESN. "I’ve been with these guys for, some of them, three years, and some of them I played with in college or whatnot. I do feel like I have a lot of respect from the guys." 

Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald reported last week that "team sources" indicated Jones was staying atop the depth chart despite his struggles this season because backups Bailey Zappe and Will Grier "are unfit" to start. According to NESN's Adam London, Callahan said during a Friday appearance on the WEEI "Jones and Mego" program that some New England players are "firmly out" on Jones and "don’t think he’s the answer." 

Jones threw an awful interception and took a late sack for a safety in Sunday's 21-17 loss at the Las Vegas Raiders that dropped the Patriots to 1-5 on what may already be a lost season for the organization. 

"There’s a lot of things I want to do better as a player, and that’ll really change some things," Jones acknowledged. "But at the end of the day, I’ve got to keep working, they’ve got to keep working, and I know they will, just like we all are. I know it sucks and it’s frustrating, but at the same time, you’ve got to keep going forward and see who wants to battle." 

ESPN stats show that Jones went into Monday night ranked 30th in the league among qualified players with a 36.8 adjusted QBR and a 74.4 passer rating on the season. He threw no touchdown passes over the past three games and has been picked off a total of seven times since the start of Week 1. 

"I really just focus on showing up to work every day, trying to be positive, really just working hard and finding out answers to the test," Jones added about chatter regarding his alleged reputation among teammates. "There’s a lot of things that will pop up, and my goal is to figure out, how do we solve those problems?" 

Former NFL quarterback and current CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo suggested Sunday that Jones gives the Patriots the best chance to win among all the options on the roster. Time will tell if head coach Bill Belichick still feels that way when he names his QB1 for this coming Sunday's home game versus the 4-2 Buffalo Bills.