Regardless of Belichick's Comments, Here's When Mac Jones Will Take Over for Cam Newton

As training camps open across the league this week, several position battles will get underway. One in particular will be the New England Patriots quarterback battle between Mac Jones and Cam Newton. 

Bill Belichick said over the summer that Newton would be the starter, yet he alluded to an open competition yesterday between all the quarterbacks.

“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 said. "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 here of training camp. We all have a lot of work to do. Until we go out and do anything then I would say it’s pretty much a clean slate.”

Although most of this is coach speak, the Patriots didn’t draft Jones at No.15 for nothing. 

According to odds on WynnBET, Newton is expected to be the starter. However, if the Patriots begin to falter like they did last season, we could see Jones sooner rather than later. 

New England has the 15th-hardest schedule in the league, and has its win total set at 9.5, with the under (-120) favoring the over (+100).

Normally if a team makes a change to a rookie quarterback, they schedule the change around an easier opponent or the bye week. The Patriots don’t have that luxury. 

The two weeks prior to their Week 14 bye week feature games against the Titans and Bills. The two weeks after the bye are games against the Colts and Bills. The most opportune game of those four would be the Titans, but it would also be asking a rookie to keep up in a potential shootout. 

New England doesn’t have an obvious answer to when Jones is best suited to step in, but Week 9 against the Panthers feels like the best time. It is at the midway point of the season against a bad defense, and is a non-conference game. 

Jones is +1300 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, which is the longest odds among the first-round quarterbacks. Yet, if Newton struggles early, don’t be surprised if Jones comes in and sees his odds skyrocket. 

Think Mac Jones will see the field this season? Download the WynnBET app in New Jersey, Indiana or Colorado and find out how to bet.