Mac Jones had a sophomore season from hell, amplifying his own mistakes and misfortunes by throwing temper tantrums on the New England Patriots sideline.
Outbursts in the direction of offensive play-caller Matt Patricia became common over the course of a disappointing season, as Jones became the poster boy for an offense that was defined by regression. Those fits of rage drew responses from Patriots of the past, who made it very clear how they felt about the young QB seemingly showing up his head coach.
Chief among those ex-Patriots was Julian Edelman, who ripped Jones for his "pissy" faces following the season's low point, a last-second loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
As Jones and the Patriots prepare to work with their third play-caller in three seasons, Edelman is "super pumped" for what the future might hold. That doesn't mean he's over the outbursts from New England's signal-caller.
"He's a good kid, but you see people and who they really are when (expletive) is hitting the fan and you can't do that as a quarterback," Edelman said on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast. "He's a young guy and his situation that he was in -- I'm not saying it was an easy situation, especially having Matty P calling plays. But everyone is watching you when you're the quarterback. There's something to be said about that, and there's a standard. There's rules.
"Don't come at me saying, 'Oh, well Brady,' Brady had like three Super Bowls when (expletive) showed up a coach for one -- for the first time. Not showed up a coach, but he got into an argument with someone and showed emotion. You can't do that, especially when you're still trying to learn who you are."
The expectation is that things will go a lot smoother for the Patriots offense this coming season. Though they have a number of free-agent decisions to make on the likes of Jakobi Meyers, Damien Harris and Isaiah Wynn, the man put in charge of turning the unit around, Bill O'Brien, has drawn nothing but praise since returning to New England.
At the very least, we know O'Brien isn't the type to let people get away with outbursts on the Patriots sideline.
