Bill Belichick has coached 459 regular-season and postseason games in 26 seasons as an NFL head coach with the Browns and Patriots.
In exactly six of those 459 games did Belichick start a rookie quarterback: Two with Jacoby Brissett in 2016, and four with Eric Zeier with the 1995 Browns. Belichick is 2-4 in those games.
But Belichick, even after all these years, has never been afraid to try something new. He’s opening a new era of Patriots football by entering the 2021 season with rookie first-round pick Mac Jones as his starting quarterback.
Though he’s only turning 23 on Sunday, Jones impressed Belichick and the coaching staff with his maturity, leadership, and performance throughout the last five weeks of training camp.