Well, this was awkward.
After a Pro Bowl rookie season (albeit as an alternate) that included a playoff appearance, Mac Jones was never the same quarterback in New England due to various circumstances and his relationships with coaches on staff and teammates ended up fractured.
Now, he’s no longer a Patriot.
The former first round pick is being traded to his hometown team, the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 6th round draft pick according to Ian Rapoport. The deal won’t be finalized until the ‘official’ start of the league year at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Jones gets the fresh start in a comfortable, well-known spot and the Pats can truly move forward with their next quarterback whether it’s a free agent or one of the ‘big three’ at the top of the draft. Simply put, this ugly end to an era that never really got off the ground is both Mac’s fault and the Patriots’ fault. Particularly, it’s Bill Belichick’s fault.
Jones threw for 22 TD’s, 13 picks and 3,801 yards before the blowout in Buffalo on Wild Card Weekend. He had Josh McDaniels in his hip pocket throughout camp that summer and clearly took over as QB1 for Cam Newton after Newton had Covid protocol issues and Jones dominated against the Giants in a joint practice with thousands in attendance.
Belichick then put Patricia and Judge in charge of the offense (we don’t need to go over it again, we all know how bad it was) and 2022 was an epic debacle. Jones had 14 TD’s and 11 picks and found himself getting yo-yo’d by Bill with Bailey Zappe suddenly showing there wasn’t much difference between the two. In 2023, Jones’ nightmare got worse. A Bill O’Brien-led offense never amounted to anything with Jones and he somehow got worse, making some incredibly terrible throws and decisions on a weekly basis while once again dealing with Zappe and a head coach that clearly wanted nothing to do with him anymore. After just 10 TD’s and 2,120 yards (12 picks) and multiple benching’s, it was pretty apparent a change of scenery would be best for everyone.
To his credit, Jones always faced the music with the media and in non-press conference settings he was willing to shoot the breeze when he was in the locker room. I had the chance to talk high school football and high school lacrosse with him a few times and this was never a character issue. Jones is a good guy (although, he does act like a child on the field sometimes still), it was a matter of coaches and teammates not seeing enough to believe in him. Believing in a teammate and not liking a teammate are two very different things. Mac was liked in the room, but wasn’t a leader of men.
The coaching decisions around Jones were completely unfair and quite frankly completely F’d with his career. We all saw the potential in 2021, but with so much incompetence and then inconsistency at OC the last two years, he was put in a position to fail. We haven’t even mentioned the horrible offensive line built in front of him and the severe lack of talent on offense. What young QB could possibly thrive in this environment?
While he probably won’t be competing with Trevor Lawrence for starting reps, Jones can head back home with a chance to rebuild his image in the Jaguars’ locker room. Doug Pederson is also a much kinder, gentler coach with a history of success coaching young QB’s.
For the Patriots, it’s truly back to square one at QB. Although, Bailey Zappe could still be here as QB2 or QB3, but he could be on his way out too. Heading into Year 5 of the post-Brady era, New England is still trying to get it right, which is the scariest part of all this. We may never know who truly drafted Jones that night in 2021 (I still think it was more Kraft than BB), but whoever it was, it was ultimately another waste of a first round draft pick that probably set the organization back a few years.
It feels like this new regime is going to stick and pick at No. 3. That means not only do they have to get it right, but the right fit in terms of a veteran signing is critical too. Would Russ Wilson undermine a rookie? Is Jacoby Brissette good enough to win and be a mentor, or is he just a mentor? Will they pay up for Baker Mayfield and let the rookie sit? Do you go get Jimmy G back here? These are all questions that need to be answered the next two months, starting Monday when free agency opens.
The Mac Jones era in New England will be remembered as a complete and total failure, but it should never be portrayed as strictly a Jones issue. Everyone had a hand in this going the way it did.