Theres a real chance Mac Jones will be active against the Browns on Sunday.
The league requires teams to downgrade questionable players that dont travel to out on Saturday afternoons. While both Nelson Agholor (hamstring) and Jonathan Jones (ankle) were ruled out, Jones and running back Damien Harris (hamstring) were not, which indicates they made the trip to Cleveland.
The Patriots quarterback didnt travel to Green Bay while nursing his high ankle sprain, so its unlikely hes just making the trip as a spectator; theres a real shot hell suit up. Enter your email address here to receive MassLive’s Patriots newsletter every Monday and Friday.
On Friday morning, Bill Belichick explained that Saturday is a critical day when it comes to evaluating injuries.
Certainly, (Jones was) doing a lot more this last Thursday than he did last Thursday, Belichick said. Id imagine Friday will be the same thing, but well see. Again, if a player has an injury, he goes out and does whatever hes capable or instructed to do. Then we see how he responds and what happens. Nobody knows the answer to that question. So, if the next day he feels better then he does more. If they next day, he doesnt feel better or has soreness or whatever, then we back off and then try it again once he feels like were at the next read.
So, its a process of steps. When you go one step, then you go to the next step. If you cant make it through that step, then you step back and step through it again. So, nobody knows how theyre going to feel tomorrow after what they do today. I dont know how anybodys going to feel that are in that category. Well see where it is. If its better on Saturday than it was Friday, then maybe its a gameday workout. If its worse, then we probably would downgrade the player. If it feels great today and tomorrow feels great, then were good to go.
But thats why Saturday is an important day in this whole process. I know everybody wants a definite answer, but its just totally unrealistic to be able to do that. I dont know how a players going to feel after three days of practice depending upon what the volume is or the intensity is. Thats impossible to know that until you actually experience it or he experiences it. So, well see.