Trent Brown Defends Mac Jones, Blames Patriots For QB’s Downfall

Everyone has an opinion on Mac Jones. He might be the most polarizing quarterback in the NFL, at least in terms of his actual play.

But how do players inside the Patriots locker room feel about Jones after his miserable third season in New England? How much blame do they put on him for the offense’s struggles over the last two years?

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We spoke with one, tackle Trent Brown, in a phone interview last weekend. He touched on a variety of issues, including his assessment of how the Patriots undermined Jones after his impressive rookie campaign.

Brown pointed toward New England’s mismanagement of the offensive line and the decision to install Matt Patricia as offensive play-caller in 2022.

“I don’t think you can rebuild the quarterback and the O-line at the same time,” Brown said. “I know people are down on Mac and whatnot, but I don’t think it’s his fault for the season being what it is. Everybody has games where they play bad, but if you look at it, Mac’s rookie year, took us to the playoffs. He had a good O-line in front of him. He had a quarterback coach. And he had an offensive coordinator that he had a relationship with, could feel comfortable with.

“Josh (McDaniels) leaves, and we don’t have a career offensive coordinator. We just had somebody (Patricia) who was holding the spot, basically. I don’t know, doing a favor or something. And then you see he got the brunt of it because he had to get fired. But I don’t necessarily think that was fair to him either, because he’s not an offensive coordinator. He’s known as a defensive coordinator — a hell of a defensive coordinator.”

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Brown highlighted two decisions from the 2022 offseason: letting Ted Karras sign with the Cincinnati Bengals and trading Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“If you pay Ted Karras, who played a hell of a season at left guard before he left to go to Cincinnati, I think that solves an issue,” Brown said. “I think if you don’t trade Shaq Mason, who’s an All-Pro guard, that solves an issue. I don’t think it was necessary for those moves to be made. And then to not really replace them with guys of their caliber.”

The Patriots used five draft picks on interior offensive linemen over the last two years. One is 2022 first-rounder Cole Strange, whom Brown said recently sought his council after undergoing knee surgery. Another is rookie Sidy Sow, who played guard in college but focused on tackle in training camp. Sow eventually moved back to right guard, where he played well while making 13 starts.

The handling of Sow also was a misstep, according to Brown.

“I feel like (Sow) probably could’ve gotten off to a better start if he’d been playing guard all along,” Brown said. “… You tell (Adrian) Klemm to put him at right tackle and you don’t want him nowhere else. I think that kind of delayed his development.”

Jones finished the season with six consecutive games on the bench. In Sunday’s season-ending loss to the New York Jets, he was a healthy scratch with Nathan Rourke serving as Bailey Zappe’s top backup.

Brown said Jones maintained his professionalism throughout the run of benchings.

“I think he’s handled it great,” Brown said.

The Patriots hold the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Many assume they’ll use it to select a new franchise quarterback, one way or another.

But Brown, who also criticized the Patriots for their roster building and treatment of players, believes a rookie QB couldn’t succeed with the franchise in its current state.

“I think he’d see the same set of issues.”