FOXBORO — As if the 2023 season hadn’t gone poorly enough for Mac Jones, he was demoted one more time in the Patriots’ Week 18 loss to the Jets.

Jones, who began the season as the Patriots’ starting quarterback before being moved down to No. 2 on the depth chart in Week 13, was suddenly inactive as the team’s emergency third quarterback on Sunday. Bailey Zappe started with Nathan Rourke, who joined the team prior to Week 16, was second string.

The move was not a major surprise based on how practice reps were divvied up during the week, according to sources. The quarterbacks did not find out who was going to be Zappe’s backup until inactives were announced before the game, however. Head coach Bill Belichick said after Sunday’s game that Rourke had a good week of practice.

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Jones, who hasn’t spoken to the media since Week 12, met with reporters Monday during the Patriots’ locker room cleanup.

“Look, I’ve started a lot of games in this league, and I’ve been very fortunate for that,” Jones said Monday. “I look at it as a positive, being able to stay healthy at the end of the year and finish the year on a healthy note. Definitely a different situation.”

Jones was asked if he viewed it as a positive that he was demoted to third string since it allowed him to finish the season healthy.

“Just grateful to have played so many games here and started games here,” Jones said. “It’s different, right? It’s a different situation. It’s tough, but I always want to be able to help the team, whether I’m 1, 2 or 3. And I feel like that’s the valuable lesson is that I’m a team player. Like I said, I have a lot of respect for the guys in this room and I have a lot of close friends that I’ll be friends with for my whole life.”

Jones never truly opened up during Monday morning’s media session, choosing not to directly answer questions about whether he would welcome a change of scenery or about what he felt like what went wrong in what was expected to be a bounce-back season.

He did offer up that he was able to add good weight after Zappe took over as the Patriots’ starter in the final six weeks of the season.

“I always take notes, and I’ve gotten a chance to go back and look at my notes from the past three years,” Jones said. “And there’s a lot of things I can do better. And there’s a lot of things that are in my control. But there’s also a lot of things that are out of my control. And I’ve always said that I’m going to focus on the controllables and that’s important to me. But like I said earlier, I feel like I’ve made progress especially in the last couple of weeks.

“I’ve been here early, left late. A lot of people would have just said, you know, ‘I’m done. And I’m not gonna do that.’ And I’ve worked out hard, put on 7-to-8 pounds of muscle in the last couple of weeks here. So that’s where I’m at right now. And that’s why I’m looking forward to the next opportunity. I know it’s going to come but at the end of the day as a quarterback and a competitor, you’ve got to be ready, right? So I’m gonna be ready.”

When asked why he felt it was important to add muscle and waited until the end of the season to do so, Jones said he had a chance to work on his “own stuff.”

“I’m doing my own things in the weight room, and I’m just getting stronger throughout the whole year. And it’s hard to do that. It’s really hard. But when I talk about my notes and things I’ve reviewed, that’s one of the things that went well,” Jones said. “So, gotta build on that in the offseason and it’ll help me in my next opportunity, wherever that is.”

Jones does sound open to a return to the Patriots. He’s currently under contract through the 2024 season. The Patriots must decide whether or not they’re going to pick up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract that would lock him up through the 2025 season. That seems extremely unlikely based on how Jones performed over the last season season.

The Patriots own the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. If the right quarterback is there, it would be wise for the Patriots to start over with a new franchise player.

“I feel like I let people down with my play and a lot of that stuff is in my control and some of it’s not,” Jones said. “So I’m going to do everything I can for my next opportunity whether that’s here and really just push forward and continue to be Mac. That’s what it’s all about. And don’t let that waver.”