Mac Jones Reveals ‘Coolest Part’ About Working With Bill O’Brien

Mac Jones spent last season clashing with Patriots play-caller Matt Patricia and position coach Joe Judge. That hasn't been a problem with their replacement.

Jones is one of the many New England players who have raved about Bill O'Brien's impact since he came aboard as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach back in February.

The third-year quarterback recently shared his highest praise yet for O'Brien, lauding his no-nonsense attitude and straightforward approach to coaching in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

“He’s super real,” Jones told Breer. “He’s a straight-up guy, not only as a coach but as a person. He’s going to let you know, 'Hey, you’re not doing this right. Hey, you’re doing this really well.' Some coaches will tell you, but then they don’t give you a plan to fix it. I think the coolest part is he gives you the plan, and then from there, you got to go out and execute it. Something might pop up in OTAs where I did something wrong. He’s like, 'Well, do this throw instead of that throw.' Next thing you know, it comes up today at practice.

“It’s just little things like that. ... I think the unit, most importantly, feels the same way as I do in that we have a lot of trust in him to work things out throughout the season.”

Jones and his fellow offensive players did not have that trust in Patricia and Judge, who were out of their depth as offensive coaches after devoting most of their careers to defense and special teams, respectively. New England's offense nosedived under their leadership, and Jones became a ball of visible frustration, the back half of his season defined by increasingly frequent on-field outbursts.

After an early-December loss to the Buffalo Bills, Jones said he wanted to be "coached harder" -- a clear shot at Patricia and Judge. He's found a much better match in O'Brien, who's spent decades running successful offenses at the NFL and collegiate levels.

Most recently, O'Brien spent two seasons as OC at Alabama, working under Jones' former college coach, Nick Saban. He's also coached under Bill Belichick in the past, leading New England's Tom Brady-led offense from 2009-11.

Jones described O'Brien's scheme as "a nice melting pot" of traditional Patriots concepts -- the kind the QB ran as a rookie under Josh McDaniels -- and ones pulled from Alabama's playbook. He and the offense as a whole have looked far more comfortable and confident since O'Brien's arrival.

“Yeah, for sure, there was a lot of crossover,” Jones told Breer. “We speak the same language. He used to coach for Belichick and Saban, and I played for Belichick and Saban. We understand that it’s a tough place to play. In practice, everything’s going to be hard. You’ve got defensive head coaches, so they’re trying to make it hard on you.

"We love the challenge. We speak the same terminology. Sometimes I’ll bring up an old play, and everyone’s like, 'What’s that?' And O’B’s like, 'It’s this.' We’re talking the same language. It’s fun."

Jones had his first chance to run O'Brien's offense in a game setting during Saturday night's preseason matchup with the Green Bay Packers. Though poor pass protection derailed two of his three drives, it was an encouraging debut, with Jones completing 6 of 9 passes for 52 yards and converting two third-and-longs.

The Patriots will have their final preseason tuneup this Friday night against the Tennessee Titans before hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in their regular-season opener on Sept. 10.