Mac Jones was right in the middle of a tension-filled season with the New England Patriots. According to Andrew Callahan and Kareh Guregian of the Boston Herald, there was more friction than we realized.
Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, the assistant coaches, seemed to drive the offensive struggle bus. It was as though the criticism was equally shared. Patricia faced it from the media, while Judge dealt with it from the Patriots themselves. This included head coach Bill Belichick. However, the biggest clash was with second-year quarterback, Mac Jones.
The report said that it “wasn’t uncommon” for Jones and Judge to engage in arguments filled with profanity during practice. According to a source within the Patriots, as told to the Boston Herald, “Mac didn’t like him. At all.”
In 2022, Patricia and Judge went in a different direction with the offensive side. This approach did not seem to do Mac Jones any favors. This is made obvious by his percentage decrease from 67.5 to 65.2. His passer rating also fell from 92.5 to 84.8.
A source said, “It was disheveled,” another source said. “They were always scrambling to get things done.” The Patriots carried this right onto the field, as there did not seem to be many wholesome plans. Sources confirmed this by saying that Judge and Patricia could not answer questions in practice. They would often say, “We’ll get to that when we get to that.” Not very promising.
Mac Jones literally disgusted by Matt Patricia pic.twitter.com/P2aSxHwSra
— Brandon (@bagnew7) December 13, 2022
Judge probably won’t have a lot to say regarding the offensive side, but he is still on the coaching staff as of now. The future of the staff of the Patriots is up in the air though. Matt Patricia will not be at the East-West Shrine Bowl with his colleagues, yet Judge is expected to attend.
This is good news for Mac Jones, along with the return of Bill O’Brien as the new offensive coordinator. He held this role back in 2009 until 2011. O’Brien was most recently the offensive coordinator for Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban. What a nice little full-circle Alabama moment.
Jones is excited to work with O’Brien. Maybe this will be the change he needs to improve his performance, as well as his overall feelings towards his place on the team. There were often times in 2022 where Jones was obviously upset. One of the most notable was when he complained about the play calling during the 24-10 defeat that dropped the Patriots to 6-6. Mike Reiss of ESPN says that he appeared to say, “Throw the f—— ball! The quick game sucks!”
Jones defended his complaints after the game by saying, “That’s football. I’m passionate about this game.” Bill Belichick came to his defense on Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio, saying, “Mac’s a very competitive guy. Love his attitude, love his passion for the game.” Mac Jones even asked to be “coached harder” during his own press conference.
Now if only I could ask Jones the real burning question: What’s his favorite curse word?
Read more about Mac Jones here.
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