Mac Jones is home and happy with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a backup quarterback.
The former Alabama signal-caller was miserable in New England, especially after his rookie season.
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Jones excelled in his first campaign under Josh McDaniels in 2021.
He led the Patriots to the AFC playoffs at 10-7 and had career highs for completion percentage (67.6), passing yards (3,801), and touchdowns (22). Jones made the Pro Bowl and things were trending up for the Patriots. However, New England let go of McDaniels from being the offensive coordinator after Jones’ rookie year. His numbers dropped tremendously in the last two seasons with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge coaching him. Jones lost confidence and the team missed the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. The Jacksonville (Fla.) native was traded to the Jaguars on March 14 for a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
New England has moved on to Drake Maye at quarterback, but a former Patriot did not like how Jones was done.
Damien Harris, a former Alabama running back, was Jones’ college teammate in 2017 and 2018.
Harris also played two seasons with Jones in New England. He announced his retirement from the NFL on March 25, but Harris took an opportunity to speak to Carlos Talks Pats on what really happened in New England with Jones.
Harris says the organization failed his quarterback.
Former #Patriots RB Damien Harris says Bill Belichick being “stuck in his ways” caused Mac Jones to fail in New England.
“What happened to Mac Jones in New England, was not because of Mac Jones… (it) was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him… pic.twitter.com/KyhzGXMLpV
— Carlos Talks Pats (@LosTalksPats) June 6, 2024
“What happened to Mac Jones in New England, was not because of Mac Jones… (it) was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro-Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division,” Harris said.
“With a rookie quarterback… then you take Matt Patricia who’s coached defense his entire life. Joe Judge who’s been a special teams coach… and then you just throw them in there and say, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything gonna be fine.’ S**t wasn’t fine. Now Mac Jones is in Jacksonville… the breath of Mac Jones in New England — it came and went. It shouldn’t have (gone) the way that it went. The only reason that it did was because Bill Belichick, being stuck in his ways, was very much so ‘As long as I am here. As long as I am, along with Robert Kraft, the top dog at this organization… we will have success.’ I think that started kinda was this Cam Newton situation… everybody was like, ‘What the f**ck is this? Why Cam Newton?’ Bill thought that he could make it work. It didn’t really work. Then we drafted Mac. We had a hell of a year… went on to win seven straight. At that time we were kinda looking at ourselves like we might have a Super Bowl run here… then the next year after that you replace… Josh McDaniels with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge and then look at the year we had that year… now Mac Jones is all of a sudden gone. I think that everybody can look at what I just said. And ultimately, just watch it for what it was and kinda say that maybe Bill Belichick did not do right by Mac Jones.”
Harris did not mince words.
Alabama fans agree with him that the Patriots did not do right by Jones.
The situation would have been different if Belichick would have embraced him or at least kept McDaniels around Jones. Instead, the team went down because of Belichick not choosing to adjust with the times as the league became more about offense.
Jones has a fresh start in Jacksonville and we will see what becomes of it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
