Mac Jones admits Josh McDaniels leaving impacted him with Patriots
· Yahoo Sports
Former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones opened up more about the shockingly disastrous 2022 season.
The Patriots were initially full of hope coming off a year where they made it to the playoffs and remained competitive in the AFC East division. Jones started as a rookie out of college and was nominated to the Pro Bowl in his first NFL year. He finished the season throwing for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
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Not bad for a rookie.
But then disaster struck on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left the Patriots for a head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, and former Patriots coach Bill Belichick failed to find a suitable replacement.
He considered doing the job himself, according to Jones, but he ultimately decided to hand over the offensive coaching responsibilities to longtime defensive coach Matt Patricia. It ended up being one of the worst decisions in franchise history.
Jones admitted that McDaniels leaving impacted his growth after a successful rookie season.
"I get it. [Josh McDaniels] obviously coached us and got that chance to be a head coach again, and that's what he wanted to do," Jones said on Bussin' With The Boys. "And good for him, but I think that really affected me because I felt like if I could have just built on the year before, it would have really helped me and everybody on the team.
"...At first Bill was going to call the plays, which I was like, 'Alright, this is kinda fun. Let's see how this goes.' And he's like obviously a great defensive guy, and I was like, 'Alright, if Bill wants to take it over, good for him. He has six Super Bowls. He can do whatever he wants.'"
The Patriots finished with an 8-9 record in 2022, and Jones' production dipped across the board. More importantly, his confidence took a hit on the football field, and the team ultimately failed to develop him properly. That led to him being benched for Bailey Zappe and eventually shipped off in a trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While many were shocked by how quickly things went bad, Jones admitted he could see the drop-off coming in the spring at OTAs, well ahead of the 2022 season.
"I just felt like we didn't click early in OTAs," said Jones. "You could kind of see it kind of trending, and I was a second-year player, so I didn't really say much or do much. Brian Hoyer was the backup, and he was kinda like looking at me, like trying to keep me in it. But we were kinda like, 'This is not gonna be good.'"
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mac Jones admits Josh McDaniels leaving impacted him with Patriots