As I've said before, the only thing that would truly surprise me is Jones making his first start in Week 4.
And as I said over on reddit, if Cam plays well, all will be fine. But I don't think this fanbase will put up with four-game-losing-streak Cam in 2021.
& It's not just the losing streak possibility, although that's hard to separate from virus variables.
In addition to a short hook for Cam getting
himself sick, he's exposing his team to physical risk but also to risk of forfeit. This year a player can take steps to remain healthy and has personal control of the ability to do so. The league is aware of this, and there are sanctions for voluntarily exposing others. What constituted "getting sick" last year will be treated in accordance with the changes on the ground introduced by the availability of vaccines, the increased infectiveness of the variants, and the league's placement of responsibility on teams with outbreaks. It's simple. He's a risk to lose us games as long as he persists in remaining unvaccinated. And no, antibodies from previous infection are not forever even with COVID classic.
When he was bad at his job last year, I kept rooting for him to do okay despite the virus. As little patience as we have for him going out and stinking it up on the field, how are we going to feel about him forcing a forfeit? It is likely (though subject to his own politics) that Bill will be a hard-nosed realist and be pro-football, anti-politics, pro-ruthlessness when it comes to the product on the field.
Meanwhile, the team more and more seems to have an NFL-ready alternative to Cam waiting in the wings. That makes the "ruthless" review of the situation one NFL-ready QB who does not expose the team to the risk of forfeit vs. one NFL-ready QB who does expose the team to the risk of forfeit. That adds a huge possibility of Cam losing the starting position.
Coronavirus might be to Cam what Mo Lewis was to Drew.
PS, I have, but will not express, an opinion about whether or not it is a good thing to infect your teammates with a deadly pathogen. I am only talking about the effect of player choices on their prospects. You can't do this guesswork without incorporating the known facts.
