The Facts: Jones has been a daily presence at Gillette Stadium -- using the workout facilities and Socios.com Fieldhouse to throw -- one of a small handful of players who has stayed in the region for the majority of the offseason.

Diehards Line: Jones’ promising rookie season in 2021 under coordinator Josh McDaniels was followed up with a disappointing 2022 campaign in a new offensive system under playcaller Matt Patricia and quarterbacks coach Joe Judge, sparking the question of what the Patriots have in him. In the opinion of one anonymous national scout who evaluated QBs this year and the past two drafts, Jones, based on his grade coming out of Alabama, would still be topped only by Trevor Lawrence over that stretch. It sets up a critical year for Jones to prove it, working under new coordinator Bill O’Brien. While there have been reports suggesting Bill Belichick has soured on Jones, Michael Lombardi, who served as an assistant to the head coach in New England from 2014 to 2015, had this: "The idea he is shopping Mac is against everything he would do. First of all, he’s the most secretive person in the league. He’s not going to tell you anything he’s doing; even some people in the organization don’t know. But if somebody comes to him and tells him, ‘I’ll give you a [first-round pick] for Mac,’ does that mean he’s shopping him? No. That just means somebody asked the question. I think we’re at a semantical issue here. … Did the Patriots mess up with their decision with the staffing [last season]? That’s fairly obvious, and I think [Belichick’s] admitted that. Was Mac Jones’ behavior conducive to that of an ultimate leader? No. He’s got to admit that too. So there’s culpability on both sides. The only way they’re going to improve is [acknowledging that] together. ...” We'll continue to watch this one, but it's entirely possible the trade talk has indeed been overblown.