Patriots Great Correctly Blames Team For Mac Jones’ Downfall

Devin McCourty played two seasons with Mac Jones. He had a front-row seat for the Patriots quarterback’s devolution from standout rookie with franchise QB potential to poster boy for the NFL’s most dysfunctional offense.

Things have only gotten worse for Jones in the nine months since McCourty retired, with his penchant for repeating the same catastrophic mistakes ultimately costing him his starting job. After four in-game Jones benchings, New England started backup Bailey Zappe last week and is expected to do so again Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jones deserves a portion of the blame for his stunning fall from grace. After all, he’s the one who committed his 14 turnovers this season, four of which were returned for touchdowns. He could not stop throwing off his back foot, into heavy coverage, at the first sign of pressure. Jones looked mechanically and psychologically broken by the time New England reached its mid-November bye week.

But McCourty believes the Patriots bear the brunt of the responsibility for Jones’ career cratering.

“I mean, to me, it’s a no-brainer,” the former Patriots safety said Wednesday on “The Greg Hill Show,” as transcribed by WEEI.com’s Mike Kadlick. “Everybody in the organizations raved about the guy’s work ethic. How he’s there early, he’s there late. So, to me, it’s hard to just say, like, it’s his fault. …

“I don’t think, no matter how you feel about him, I don’t think you’d walk away from the situation and say, ‘Hey, you know, this situation that they built around him was really good, and he just didn’t get the job done.’ Like, to me, there’s no way, if you’re gonna be factual, you’ve got to look, there’s just no way.”

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McCourty, who’s now an analyst for NBC, noted how Jones has had three offensive coordinators in three seasons and a rotating cast of mostly subpar pass-catchers. The former safety again brought up the Patriots’ decision to let reliable leading receiver Jakobi Meyers walk in free agency and replace him with JuJu Smith-Schuster — a move McCourty criticized at the time and proved disastrous for New England’s offense.

Meyers has 52 catches for 591 yards and six touchdowns this season as the Las Vegas Raiders’ No. 2 option. Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker, whom the Patriots signed to a contract extension this summer, have a combined stat line of 47-434-1. Kendrick Bourne was amid a strong bounce-back campaign before tearing his ACL in October, and rookie slot receiver Demario Douglas has impressed but can’t carry a passing attack at this early stage of his career.

Jones also was hindered by an injury-depleted offensive line that ranks 27th in the NFL in pass-blocking efficiency, per Pro Football Focus. Blocking was an issue Sunday for Zappe, too, who took five sacks in a 6-0 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

“All have been kind of moving parts,” McCourty said. “It seemed like he kind of built a connection with Jakobi Meyers, then Jakobi’s gone. So, like, it would be hard for me to just say, ‘Hey, like it’s all him. Like, Kendrick Bourne, (Jones’) rookie year, goes out there has a career year. Then the next year, Kendrick Bourne doesn’t really play at all. …

“And again, I have no problem with the guys that watch and say, ‘Hey, I evaluated this quarterback, his arm strength, his mobility.’ Like, if you want to come up with all of those metrics that you think makes a quarterback good, and you think he doesn’t hit those certain criteria that you like in a quarterback, I get that.

“But I think overall, if you say, ‘Hey, which side do you see more at fault?’ To me, it’s no doubt the organization, what’s been put around him, for these straight three years.”

It remains to be seen whether Jones, who was Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up and a Pro Bowl alternate in 2021, ever will start another game for the Patriots. The 25-year-old has one year remaining on his rookie contract (plus a potential fifth-year option) but looks like a player in desperate need of a fresh start.

The Patriots could look to land his successor in the 2024 NFL Draft, in which they currently hold the No. 2 overall pick.