The 2022 NFL season was a trying campaign for the Patriots offense, to say the least.
After an encouraging Year 1 in New England, Mac Jones took a significant step back as an NFL sophomore. Under the tutelage of first-time offense play-caller Matt Patricia, Jones and his supporting cast struggled to move the ball downfield on a weekly basis. Frustration boiling over became a common occurrence in Foxboro, as the Patriots offense was never able to click.
The optics of the entire outfit were jarring to ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick, who criticized Jones and company Thursday on "Get Up."
"What you saw happening last year with Mac Jones both on the field and on the sidelines -- where he showed just how frustrated he was with the operation that he was having to work with in terms of the play-callers and the people that were in his ear -- is totally unacceptable," Riddick said, as transcribed by Boston.com. "It's unacceptable by (Robert) Kraft's standards. It's unacceptable by Bill Belichick's standards. It's unacceptable by Patriot Nation's standards.
"Bill O'Brien now, he needs to settle things down for Mac Jones. They need to get Mac Jones a bonafide No. 1 wide receiver to really go ahead and take the top off the defense and let Mac really expand upon his skillset and see where he can take them."
Unfortunately for Jones, there's a real chance his arsenal of weapons is even worse in 2023 than it was this past season. Jakobi Meyers could be priced out of New England, a player like Hunter Henry might be a salary cap casualty and a trade for DeAndre Hopkins reportedly is a long shot.
This is all assuming it will be Jones under center in Foxboro this fall, though. The Patriots' reported feelings about Bailey Zappe indicate the 2022 fourth-rounder can realistically compete for the starting job in training camp.
