It’s pretty clear that the majority of the fan base doesn’t believe in Mac Jones as “the guy” going forward.

Frankly, he’s given no reason to believe in him. But, the team feels differently.

Both Bill O’Brien on Tuesday and Bill Belichick on Wednesday expressed confidence in Jones and said he would be the starter this Sunday when the 1-4 Patriots travel to Las Vegas. Belichick bluntly said “yeah, we won’t be making any changes,” when asked to confrim Jones’ starting role Wednesday morning.

Later in the day, Jones met with the media and surprisingly, was more upbeat and energetic as he has been maybe ever during his three years here. Jones acknowledged he hasn’t always been the best leader or communicator and stressed both that part of his game and the overall joy of playing a kid’s game for a living needs to be emphasized more.

It was a night-and-day type of demeanor for Jones.

“Really just thinking about a lot of things and talking with the guys in the locker room, or guys like Hunter [Henry], or whoever, guys who have played a lot of football in this league. One of the best things that I do is my ability to communicate, so somebody told me that in the locker room, and I really took that to heart,” Jones said. “So, that’s really good information for me, and that’s who I am. I need to do a better job of that, and I haven’t done that here the past couple years.”

Ultimately, Jones’ ability to keep his teammates believing in him is the most important thing he can do right now. The acknowledgment that he’s been a less-than-ideal leader in his young career could be a big step in keeping guys rallied around him.

“I’m not necessarily a younger guy anymore, it’s my third year, and I’ve got to start playing like that and communicating like that,” Jones added. “So, that’s important to me, whether it’s route depths or ‘Hey, Pop [Demario Douglas], this is what I want you to do here’, or whatever. It’s all about communication and taking it both ways, from coaches to the players, players to the coaches, and that’s something that I am going to focus on this week – I already have – and that’s one of the things that I’ve done really well in the past.”

The faith Belichick is showing in Jones is rather stunning given how bad its looked and how much noise is now surrounding Belichick and his possible job status. Jones appreciates it and believes things can turn around, but it has to start with him and the ability to remain mentally tough while still enjoying playing football for a living.

Is this the beginning of a new Mac Jones? We’ll know in a few days.

“Yeah, that’s definitely a real thing, right, when you’re not playing too well,” Jones said of both coaches and teammates talking about his mental toughness. “But, at the same time, like I said, there’s a lot of things I can do really well, and one of those things is my ability to communicate and be myself. I haven’t done that here at times, and I just need to be consistent with that and be Mac.

“A lot of the guys I have a great relationship with, and they’re some of my closest friends, not only on the field, but off the field, so let’s carry that into the games. I feel like we do it in practice. Obviously, you guys saw that in training camp, we were out there having fun, and then the game comes around, and I don’t know what it is. I want to go out there and have fun and do our jobs and celebrate with each other, when somebody gets knocked down, pick them back up and all that stuff. So, trying to change the narrative there and really just play football together.”