Everybody in New England remembers the Patriots' Mac Jones "Era." The team drafted him 15th overall in 2021 to be their first franchise quarterback since Tom Brady's departure the year before (no offense to Patriots legend Cam Newton, of course), and it started as well as anybody could have hoped for.
As a rookie, Jones threw for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions, made a Pro Bowl appearance, and led New England to a 10-7 record and a playoff appearance (though they got mollywhopped by the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card game, 47-17).
So many people thought Jones was going to be the Patriots' quarterback of the future, but things quickly turned sour, and he was off the team just two years later.
In a recent episode on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast, the current San Francisco 49ers quarterback spoke about his hardships with the Patriots (Josh McDaniels leaving after his rookie season, the constant switching between him and Bailey Zappe as a starter, and the team's great idea of having an offensive coordinator-by-committee, headlined by known offensive genius, Matt Patricia).
"And Josh McDaniels ended up leaving. That was kinda step one... 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," Jones said.
"It really affected my career, to be honest, because, like I said, I didn't play my best football, but I don't know if playing my best football was even in the cards in that situation."
Mac Jones was dealt a bad hand, but it was on him, too
Even nearly three years after he last suited up for the Patriots (no, seriously, it's actually been that long), there is still some debate about whether the team set Jones up to fail, or if he was just not that good.
While I strongly believe no young quarterback was going to be successful in his situation (remember: Bill Belichick did virtually nothing to bolster the Patriots' receiving corps after Jones' rookie year, and the offensive line got significantly worse after each season), I also just don't think he was all that good to begin with.
New England definitely didn't do him any favors, but Jones wasn't the quarterback of the future. Entering the draft, the idea with him was that he can do well if he has a good supporting cast around him, but he was never going to elevate anybody.
His arm talent was fine, but he wasn't (isn't) mobile, and he was horrible under pressure. Even in his third season, when he got Bill O'Brien as his offensive coordinator and was given 11 weeks as their starting quarterback, he somehow played even worse than he did the season before (he was 2-9 and threw for 2,120 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 2023).
The Jones we saw as a rookie was probably closer to the real Jones, but a lot of that can be attributed to the scheme and playcalling. It was safe, and it hid a lot of the Alabama product's weaknesses (like his inability to consistently throw a deep ball, though that had a lot to do with the Patriots' receivers as well).
Everything worked out for everybody in the end anyway
Maybe the way we got here wasn't ideal, but all things considered, everybody (outside of Belichick and Patricia, maybe) should be happy with the way things turned out.
Jones ended up going back home to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars for a season (where he was okay in seven starts) and now many consider him to be the best backup quarterback in the league with the 49ers (2,151 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 6 interceptions in 11 games and eight starts last season).
And New England came out the other side with Drake Maye, who is far and away the more talented quarterback and is unquestionably their guy for the long haul.
It's like the Montreal Screwjob: you can debate whether the Patriots screwed Mac Jones, or if Mac Jones screwed Mac Jones. But the fact of the matter is that they each played a hand in this disaster.
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