Mac Jones had his world spin around during his three years as the starting quarterback with the New England Patriots.
Coaches and personnel changes, compiled with his own regression, led to a decline in his play after a standout rookie season with the Patriots.
The 2023 campaign marked rock bottom for the New England quarterback, who tried to take it upon himself to spark plays for the struggling Patriots offense, which led to him eventually losing the starting job to Bailey Zappe.
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According to a new report from MassLive’s Mark Daniels, the third-year quarterback suffered from trying to improvise and elevate the offense.
“According to multiple sources, the mistake-filled Patriots offense led to Jones freelancing, playing outside Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien’s system and ultimately outside of his ability,” Daniels wrote.
Jones could not get back to the success he had prior to his disastrous stint working with former play-caller Matt Patricia. The Patriots certainly had more problems on offense than just their quarterback. Receivers could not create opportunities and an injury-riddled offensive line gave Jones little time to operate. As a result, O’Brien tried to reset Jones’ mindset.
“As the season went on, Jones was so bothered by the mistakes around him that O’Brien attempted to help the quarterback,” Daniels wrote. “Sources said that O’Brien’s message to Jones was simple — take solace in the fact that you made the right read and right throw even if the receiver doesn’t run the proper route or catch the pass.”
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That attempt did not work. Instead, Jones shouldered more pressure on himself to make the offense work. As a result, forcing plays and not running the intended offense further weakened the Patriots’ attack.
“According to to multiple team sources, Jones’ biggest downfall was playing outside his comfort zone due to frustration,” Daniels wrote. “With receivers struggling to beat man coverage and offensive linemen struggling to pass block, Jones tried to do too much. By playing outside of O’Brien’s play call, the quarterback made things worse.”
As Daniels described, there might not be a better example of Jones’ pressing than his Week 4 decision to throw across his body.
Jones made arguably the biggest mistake a quarterback can, and the ball was intercepted by DaRon Bland and returned for a touchdown. In that game, the Dallas Cowboys blew out the Patriots in a 38-3 victory, marking the first major sign of trouble in an eventual lost season.
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Jones was benched in that game, the first of four in-game demotions in favor of Zappe. Jones eventually lost his job entering December.
With the Patriots in line to take a quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft, Jones could have to find another team to restore his future, though leaving New England may not be definite under head coach Jerod Mayo.
Featured image via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
