Mac Jones Says Patriots Offense Was Run by 3 People and nobody knew who was in charge

[Wozzy]

Mac played in a dumpster fire here.

The 2021 Patriots team was very good, even if that defense aged out by seasons end. He had good blocking and weapons… Mac folded after week 13. That was him, not the team.

He's done fine in SF under competent coaching.
I said I'm glad Mac is gone, but Devito is not a better QB than Mac.

Mac started out strong in Jacksonville and San Francisco before reverting to the same old bad habits. Devito also never had a Shanahan type coordinator to make his life easier. He never once had the talent around him Mac did in spurts.

Tommy is a good backup, because he knows he isn't a starter and never will be in this league, so he won't upset thee apple cart.

Like I said, they’re closer to the same than far apart. I’ll take a guy with good character over one who blames his teammates on field for his errant passes, slaps opponents in the junk on dirty plays and sneaks around complaining to owners.

Culture matters…

 

[Bill Lee]

I was excited about his drafting. Smart, successful, coming to a franchise that had won a lot….

I think he benefited from a lot of fair-weather sailing in Alabama, and it continued here under Josh.

Once Josh left chaos ensued and Mac just wasn't prepared to handle it.

There is a 3rd option. Mac had what it took under McD, but blame goes to him and BB for what ended up taking place. He had no business calling outside the organization for help, but BB put him in that spot. Its tough to argue against what we have seen from Mac in SF. His potential is there again. If he stays there for a few more years, he will have a shot to start again somewhere. It worked for Darnold.

If this is all it took to unsettle things, then it's pretty sad.

IMO BB is the one who should have been the bigger man and should have cut Mac some slack, but we now know BB can be a real piss ant some times.

Bill's treatment of Mac and later of Mayo showed he was more than willing and able to put his prerogatives above those of the team, IMO.

Those kinds of things, on top of what is going on in North Carolina, has been such a huge and unnecessary self-inflicted wound.

Look, we are all glad Mac is gone, but he has proven he can win games in this league and is a very high end backup, amongst the best in the NFL.

High end backup but only with best-of-breed coaching that helps him minimize his mistakes.

Maybe he'll continue to learn and grow beyond that, but for now, this is where I think we are at.

It is a paradox that the best talent coming into the NFL gets put into the worst organizations in the NFL.

It seems only the strongest or luckiest can find their way past that.

Maye is darn lucky he only had to wait one year for Vrabel and McDaniels to come to town.

Corkie kind of had the opposite of that, one good year then chaos hit.

 

[imahobgoblin]

I think we see a lot of growth/maturity from Mac being the back up, keeping his mouth shut and doing his job. when called on. he played well, the team won games and advanced to the playoffs. when the starter returned, Mac stood down, even though an argument could be had he had played better than the starter.
Mac should be in demand after this season as he enters free agency
his career has kind of taken a definite turn from his Pats QB room bud, Zippy, whose career has completely stalled

This is a reasonable take. I still can't stand his personality, but that has nothing to do with his game play. I think he still should wait two more years. Purdy is made of glass. Mac is 27. He can wait two years and then sign some stupid amount someone offers.

 

[varjao]

I believe that. Fn ridiculous. That was an NFL football team?

Disfunctional teams are like this. We have been blessed as a well run organization for decades so we used to look at this as things that happens to other teams, but yeah in the NFL, you lose a step you're into this territory real quick. Even with a guy like Bill still in charge.

Now, teams like this have access to top picks in the draft and continue to being disfunctional, the Pats visited that territory but apparently are turning things around faster than the usual because of 2 factors, access to a top draft pick in a top class (luck factor, also Maye fell to us) and coaching/direction. I can give credit to Kraft for that.

 

[jmt57]

The dysfunction was leaking during the late Brady years, but they couldn't hide it after he left. Bourne called out and embarrassed Patricia which led to him mysteriously being erased from the offense. BB tired his hardest to get fired starting in the 2022 offseason and got his wish after 2023.

Jones also confirmed some wild Aaron Hernandez stories he heard from people in the building including Bill O'Brien such as:

He was found working out in the weight room naked.
He would jerk off during team meetings.
He wrote on a white board 100 times "throw Hernandez the ball".

Hernandez and Kellen Winslow Jr were members of the Patriots at the same time.



Thankfully KW2 was only with the Pats for one week.

https://www.espn.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/10309125/kellen-winslow-arrest-report-mentions-lewd-conduct

 

[imahobgoblin]

If this is all it took to unsettle things, then it's pretty sad.

IMO BB is the one who should have been the bigger man and should have cut Mac some slack, but we now know BB can be a real piss ant some times.

Bill's treatment of Mac and later of Mayo showed he was more than willing and able to put his prerogatives above those of the team, IMO.

Those kinds of things, on top of what is going on in North Carolina, has been such a huge and unnecessary self-inflicted wound.

Putting a mediocre DC in as OC was the pretty sad part. It began a stream of senile type behavior that makes no sense. Ya, Mac was very immature, but everything about the situation was wrong.

 

[Thelonious]

Bill's final few years here were garbage. His life since shows that the problems went far deeper than football. It is very sad.

 

[Family]

Mac recorded a 97.4 official NFL passer rating and a 62.3 Total QBR during the 2025 regular season. He threw for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He hasn't been that successful anywhere? You are either a liar or delusional. I can't stand Mac, but he is earning his keep in SF.

I think we see a lot of growth/maturity from Mac being the back up, keeping his mouth shut and doing his job. when called on. he played well, the team won games and advanced to the playoffs. when the starter returned, Mac stood down, even though an argument could be had he had played better than the starter.
Mac should be in demand after this season as he enters free agency
his career has kind of taken a definite turn from his Pats QB room bud, Zippy, whose career has completely stalled

Mac was great in SF last year, but it was a backup type performance. The longer he played the worse he played. His best games were when the team lost.

It wasn't being a good soldier because If they were better with Mac they would have stayed with Mac.

He had to know they weren't. (But yes he will be in demand in free agency as of NOW.)

 

[Hyped]

Michael McCorkle Jones.....

I was done with him after that game vs. the Colts in Frankfurt....

I am happy that he has found his place in the league with the Niners...

Aaron Hernandez has been dead for nine years now....

Tom Brady threw that interception to Logan Ryan six and half years ago...

I am VERY happy with Maye.

60 days until we open @ Seattle....

 

[JoeSixPat]

Josh McDaniels was a defensive coach for years before he was the quarterbacks coach. That worked out great. Huge success.

Unless he started out on D as the defensive coordinator with no defensive background, that's not a valid comparison. McDaniels has earned his expertise on the Offensive side of the game since then. Many fans might not be all that happy if Vrabel switched him to Defensive Coordinator next year.

By "years" you mean "year" as a defensive assistant in 2002, which he had for one year after serving as a personnel assistant for a year before focusing on offense

I mean, Matt Patricia had one year as Assistant Offensive Line coach too for that matter so I guess some might think that makes him fit to be Offensive Coordinator too

Interestingly Belichick too was an Assistant Wide Receiver coach (and Assistant Special Teams coach) in 1978 although it took him until 1985 to earn the DC position. Both he and McDaniels did have one year, early in their career, on the opposite side of the ball like Patricia did.

I do think having some good knowledge about the other side of the ball is a good thing for future coaches, although maybe they pick up enough with just one year of experience

But unlike Belichick and McDaniels, who went on to focus on D and O respectively, Patricia swapped sides AND was made coordinator.

That's the main reason why it was so confounding to fans. But who knows, maybe Vrabel will make McDaniels DC to great success and prove me wrong.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Mac was great in SF last year, but it was a backup type performance. The longer he played the worse he played. His best games were when the team lost.

It wasn't being a good soldier because If they were better with Mac they would have stayed with Mac.

He had to know they weren't. (But yes he will be in demand in free agency as of NOW.)

Yup - and the rest of the NFL seemed to agree because I'm sure he could have been had for a 2nd day pick

They all developed their film on him and the O and overtime they adapted - he must have some habits that show up because he looked good at times, but there's a lot of QBs who start out strong when teams don't have film early in the season but adapt later when they find vulnerabilities

 

[Huckleberry1]

It was fortunate for us that Belichick was fired when he was, had he remained Drake Maye would be playing in Minnesota and the Patriots would still be without a franchise quarterback.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Unless he started out on D as the defensive coordinator with no defensive background, that's not a valid comparison. McDaniels has earned his expertise on the Offensive side of the game since then. Many fans might not be all that happy if Vrabel switched him to Defensive Coordinator next year.

By "years" you mean "year" as a defensive assistant in 2002, which he had for one year after serving as a personnel assistant for a year before focusing on offense

I mean, Matt Patricia had one year as Assistant Offensive Line coach too for that matter so I guess some might think that makes him fit to be Offensive Coordinator too

Interestingly Belichick too was an Assistant Wide Receiver coach (and Assistant Special Teams coach) in 1978 although it took him until 1985 to earn the DC position. Both he and McDaniels did have one year, early in their career, on the opposite side of the ball like Patricia did.

I do think having some good knowledge about the other side of the ball is a good thing for future coaches, although maybe they pick up enough with just one year of experience

But unlike Belichick and McDaniels, who went on to focus on D and O respectively, Patricia swapped sides AND was made coordinator.

That's the main reason why it was so confounding to fans. But who knows, maybe Vrabel will make McDaniels DC to great success and prove me wrong.

MacDaniels only coached defense for 1 season (2003), and I'm pretty sure it was the cornerbacks, He transitioned to offense in 2004 and never looked back.

 

[Family]

They all developed their film on him and the O and overtime they adapted - he must have some habits that show up because he looked good at times, but there's a lot of QBs who start out strong when teams don't have film early in the season but adapt later when they find vulnerabilities

Mac doesn't have arm speed. His passes are an NFL version of knuckleballs. Ok that's a little exaggeration,

The law of averages plus defenses feeling more comfortable cheating.

 

[Ross12]

It was fortunate for us that Belichick was fired when he was, had he remained Drake Maye would be playing in Minnesota and the Patriots would still be without a franchise quarterback.

Yep. Bill probably would have traded down for a nice set of picks and loaded up elsewhere while trying to get by with a veteran, probably Garoppolo or someone.

No slight against Bill, but going for the QB at #3 overall (especially when he's the third QB off the board) just doesn't seem like something that is in his DNA. And he's probably right most of the time on that, but fortunately for us, Maye is currently looking to be the best in his class and likely already a top ~10 QB in the league with a lot of room yet to grow, so it certainly worked out.

Suffering through the Mayo year was a tough pill to swallow, but ultimately it paid dividends with Mayo being so clearly awful that he only got 1 year and made way for a premier coach in Vrabel, and Maye is resilient enough that the Mayo **** show did not set him back like it would a Mac Jones type.

 

[TheRainMaker]

It was fortunate for us that Belichick was fired when he was, had he remained Drake Maye would be playing in Minnesota and the Patriots would still be without a franchise quarterback.

I think Kraft would've come full circle and reenacted the draft room with Parcells in 1996 and forcing him to take Maye. However, that would've already been understood as one of the conditions Bill returning in 2024.

It seemed like a ****ty move on Kraft for firing BB so quickly after giving him 20 years of competitive teams. But Bill was seriously losing it and derailing this team after Brady left. We talk about how bad his drafting was getting, but his poor cap management was flying under the radar. He was hoarding bad players on defense/special teams who were clogging up the cap along with the bad contracts they already had at WR/TE.

 

[n1997y]

Behran Morton very likely… it doesn’t take much.

Have to agree with that last statement.

Corky has shown his deficiencies as consistently as he has shown any strengths.

 

[n1997y]

Like I said, they’re closer to the same than far apart. I’ll take a guy with good character over one who blames his teammates on field for his errant passes, slaps opponents in the junk on dirty plays and sneaks around complaining to owners.

Culture matters…

^^^THIS^^^

And you left out mouthing off to the media about how your coaches were the problem. It wasn’t him. It’s never been Corky. He’s never been anything less than stellar. Lol.

 

[Wozzy]

I think Kraft would've come full circle and reenacted the draft room with Parcells in 1996 and forcing him to take Maye. However, that would've already been understood as one of the conditions Bill returning in 2024.

Drake Maye is the prototypical QB in Bill's mind, anyone disagree... read BB's draft notes for the position. That prototype went back to the 1980's NY Giants... pre Belichick. The idea that he wouldn't have taken Maye because he was green is laughable. Bill crucified his mistakes in the preseason as an analyst, he also called him a "freak athlete."

He described Maye as a "very talented kid" with "good size," noting that he "runs well" and possesses a "good arm" capable of driving the ball downfield. Belichick specifically pointed to Maye's capacity for "highlight plays," citing an instance where Maye threw a deep touchdown while moving backward, calling it an "amazing play" where he "puts the ball on the money." Being critical was an NFL draft analyst's job, Bill was doing his job...well. If we wanted endless glazing, Kiper and ESPN have that in spades.

I can say without question Belichick would have taken Maye, or traded back and taken McCarthy. They were both system fits, plain and simple. Bill also called QB the Patriots biggest draft need... odd thing to say with Mac Jones still on the team. Suggesting he wouldn't have taken the bigger stronger guy at #3 is just silly haterade. Nobody knows this.

It seemed like a ****ty move on Kraft for firing BB so quickly after giving him 20 years of competitive teams. But Bill was seriously losing it and derailing this team after Brady left. We talk about how bad his drafting was getting, but his poor cap management was flying under the radar. He was hoarding bad players on defense/special teams who were clogging up the cap along with the bad contracts they already had at WR/TE.

The relationship between Bill and the Krafts was bad for years leading up to 2023. Decades working together, maybe Jonathan taking a larger role and having young ideas. Either way, they wanted out of Bill's contract and he wanted every penny of it. It didn't happen overnight. In hindsight collaboration was actually the opposite of that, and it lasted about 3 years.

 

[Rob0729]

The fact of the matter is the last two years of the Belichick era, the offense was trash. You can blame Mac Jones for part of it, but it doesn't explain the complete mess the offense was. The o-line couldn't block for the life of them. The receivers were constantly running routes where they all were in bunches allowing defenses to easily defend them. Hell the receivers were running into each other. And offense was still putrid when they replaced Jones with Zappe.

Mac Jones was good under McDaniels and was good last year filling in for Brock Purdy. He wasn't even that bad when he filled in for Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville. He showed that in a good offense, he can be a good QB. He was never going to a top QB. But he could have been an average or even an above average QB in the right system.

He was set up to fail here. But he didn't handle it right. A mentally stronger QB with better talent could have handled the situation much better. Brady could have found a way to at least be decent, but he is Brady.

But Brady wanted to leave here for some of the same reason that undid Jones. Brady didn't believe there was an effort to build a winning team around him and he was asked to elevate bad to average talent. He had a so-so 2019 season because of it.

I think the disaster of the Mac Jones era falls on a number of people's shoulders and that includes both Jones and Belichick.

In hindsight, I am glad that the Jones era was a failure. Without that failure, we wouldn't see Drake Maye in a Patriots' uniform and may not have Mike Vrabel as a head coach. But the failure is a lot people's fault. Blaming Mac Jones or Belichick solely is rewriting history.