5 Biggest Patriots Busts Halfway Through the Season

The New England Patriots are arguably the worst team in the NFL through the first nine weeks of the season. You don't get to that point without some bad team building, and the Patriots have had plenty of that in the years since Tom Brady left the franchise.

There are some individual players who are at fault as well for the way the Patriots have struggled so far this season. But who, specifically, is to blame? We're going to take a look at the five biggest busts for the New England Patriots halfway through the 2023 season and where the team might go from here.

1. Mac Jones

After somehow reaching the Pro Bowl in his rookie season with the Patriots, Mac Jones has almost inexplicably regressed to the point that I'm not even sure he's going to be a reclamation project for anyone when his time with the Patriots inevitably ends.

Jones has been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons over the last 18 months or so, not that you blame him for perhaps being a little frustrated with the coaching staff that was assembled offensively in New England last year. Jones has missed plenty of open receivers at times this season, frustrating the heck out of Patriots fans, but the struggles extend beyond just 2023.

If anyone was truly expecting Jones to bounce back this season, it obviously hasn't happened, and it feels like time is running out on his chance to really be the Patriots' QB of the future (if it hasn't run out already).