I'll push back strongly on the "they ruined him" narrative. The Patriots didn't do all they could to surround Mac with talent and stability at OC, that much is obvious, but he's been a front runner from day one. This idea that he was a poised, unshakeable rookie is so strange to me. In his very first play as a pro he got panicky in the face of pressure and short circuited throwing the ball backwards. In his third game as a pro he threw three picks against the Saints and got so down on himself Bill had to lead him to the locker room by the hand while he cried. I'm sorry, he looked good for a seven game stretch in which the Patriots either played the dregs of the league of severely injured teams while the defense was amazing and the running game was chugging along. He could only ever be serviceable while playing from ahead, when they needed Mac to be the driver of offense and be able to throw to come back into games down the stretch in 21 he faltered in a very similar way as he's faltering now. They went away from the 21 offense because they understood (correctly) that there was a cap in what that play style was able to provide, which is why initially in 22 they went with a much more aggressive approach, which led him to become a turnover machine instantly. He is what he is, he can only thrive in a "we're leading, we're running the ball well, defense is stout, don't screw up" context, but Tommy DeVito could also probably thrive in said context.
Also, he was throwing off his back foot and fading away for no reason while never consistently lining his feet up to throw towards the sidelines at Alabama. He seldom attacked the intermediate middle of the field in college, he was never confident in throwing the ball down the seams. Every single one of his main flaws now appeared in his college tape to some extent. It's not just that this coaching staff made him into a mess, he owns a lot of responsibility for it as well. Starting with his approach last year of basically tuning out the staff from day one (still remember the "I know what good offense looks like" comments he made to the media). Yeah, Patricia and Judge suck, but you know jack **** kid, just listen and do your job as a second year player. He has a know it all, entitled mentality. He's Aaron Rodgers with post surgery Chad Pennington's arm talent.