After going through last season with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge leading New England’s offense, quarterback Mac Jones appears to be in a much better position to succeed with Bill O’Brien back as the club’s offensive coordinator.
In a recent interview with Albert Breer of SI.com, Jones noted that he’s enjoyed getting to work with O’Brien and that the two “are definitely on the same page and we’re building that trust.”
“He’s super real,” Jones told Breer. “He’s a straight-up guy, not only as a coach but as a person. He’s going to let you know, Hey, you’re not doing this right. Hey, you’re doing this really well. Some coaches will tell you, but then they don’t give you a plan to fix it. I think the coolest part is he gives you the plan, and then from there, you got to go out and execute it. Something might pop up in OTAs where I did something wrong. He’s like, Well, do this throw instead of that throw. Next thing you know, it comes up today at practice.
“It’s just little things like that. … I think the unit, most importantly, feels the same way as I do in that we have a lot of trust in him to work things out throughout the season.”
While Jones didn’t play with O’Brien as his OC at Alabama, the two knew each other a bit since Jones was around Tuscaloosa during his pre-draft process after O’Brien had been hired. As O’Brien has installed the scheme with the Patriots, Jones has noted there’s “for sure” some crossover from what both men had done with the Crimson Tide.
“We speak the same language,” Jones said. “He used to coach for Belichick and [Nick] Saban, and I played for Belichick and Saban. We understand that it’s a tough place to play. In practice, everything’s going to be hard. You’ve got defensive head coaches, so they’re trying to make it hard on you. We love the challenge. We speak the same terminology. Sometimes I’ll bring up an old play, and everyone’s like, What’s that? And O’B’s like, It’s this. We’re talking the same language. It’s fun.
“He’s learned a lot, which is cool for me to see in just talking to him. You learn so much going from college to pros back to college to pros. He’s kind of picked up a little bit each way. I learned that about my coaches at Alabama. A lot of guys take what they learned at Alabama and take it to their next stop or vice versa. It’s cool to see that for sure.”
After leading New England to a playoff berth as a rookie, Jones completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,997 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 14 games last year. If the Patriots are going to get back to the postseason in 2023, they’ll need the partnership between O’Brien and Jones to be successful.
