Devin McCourty expects big things from Mac Jones in his third season.
The recently retired Patriots safety has hyped up the much-maligned quarterback multiple times this offseason. And that trend continued Monday when McCourty was a guest on Kay Adams' "Up & Adams" show.
McCourty acknowledged the issues created by Matt Patricia and Joe Judge running New England's offense in 2022. But he believes that with Bill O'Brien now the Patriots' offensive coordinator, Jones has an opportunity to prove a lot of people wrong in 2023.
Here's the full exchange:
Adams: "Are you telling me that Mac Jones is the future of this franchise?"
McCourty: "Yeah. Like, for me, I don't understand. I'll say this. All these young quarterbacks come in and they get crushed right away. Then we watch Jalen Hurts, we give him time to develop, and now everybody's like, 'Did you see the Super Bowl he had? Man, he might've been better than (Patrick) Mahomes.' And it's like, yeah he got drafted for a reason. We see Tua (Tagovailoa) down in Miami. You finally get some stability around him. Get him with Mike McDaniel, a guy who's run offense, been in San Francisco. 'Oh man, he's actually a good player.' And I look at Mac who came in as a rookie under Josh McDaniels. Showed so much promise, ended up in the Pro Bowl as an alternate. Played really well for us. Gave us a chance to go compete in the playoffs. ... Two years removed from the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, we were back in the playoffs. Like, you never hear of that.
"Then last year, it's kinda like, a new, testing things out with Matty P and Joe Judge kinda running the offense -- which it didn't work. And, you know, the bad thing for Mac is a lot of that goes right to him, like, 'He wasn't good. His fault, his fault.' And I just don't see it that way. I think he's a young guy who now gets a chance to be with Billy O, a proven offense mind in this league. ... I think he's just gonna skyrocket."
Jones will be under immense pressure next season.
By the end of the campaign, we probably will have a good idea of whether the 2021 first-round pick is the long-term answer at quarterback for the Patriots. However, even if Jones plays well, his looming contract situation could create a very interesting decision for New England a year from now.
As for McCourty, the Patriots on Monday announced they'll hold a retirement ceremony for him next Tuesday at the franchise's Hall of Fame in Foxboro, Mass.
