A wound will reopen for Mac Jones on Sunday.
The Jaguars quarterback will see his old team when Jacksonville takes on the New England Patriots in London. The Week 7 matchup will mark the first time Jones sees his former teammates and coaches since being traded to the Jaguars last offseason. This won’t be a revenge game, however, as Jones will be backing up star QB Trevor Lawrence.
“I’m good friends with Mac,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said on Wednesday. “I think he’s a great guy. And, hopefully, he turns into a great quarterback.”
Let’s revisit the highs and lows Jones experienced during his turbulent time with the Patriots.
When Did Mac Jones Get Drafted?
The Patriots selected Jones with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Jones was the fifth quarterback selected in the first round, with Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields all hearing their names called before the Alabama product.
Physically limited but mentally proficient, Jones generally was viewed as the QB with the lowest ceiling but the highest floor in his class. He significantly boosted his draft stock in 2020 when he led the Crimson Tide to a national championship while finishing third in Heisman Trophy voting and being named a consensus All-American.
With the No. 15 pick, the @Patriots select: Mac Jones, QB, Alabama@MacJones_10 | @AlabamaFTBL
đź“ş: 2021 #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/J0piSUxXOp
— NFL (@NFL) April 30, 2021
Jones was the fifth QB drafted in the first round in Patriots history, following Jack Concannon, Jim Plunkett, Tony Eason, and Drew Bledsoe.
“Mac was available at our pick and he was a guy we spent a lot of time with,” Bill Belichick said after drafting Jones. “Felt like that was the best pick at that time for us. Look forward to working with him. He’s a smart kid.”
How Did Jones Perform During His Rookie Season?
It’s easy to forget now — and some people seemingly pretend to forget — but Jones was impressive during his rookie season.
He entered his first training camp as Cam Newton’s top backup, and Belichick doubled down on Newton as the starter throughout the summer. But a late-camp surge propelled Jones to the starting role and prompted the Patriots to release Newton in late August.
With Josh McDaniels leading the offense, Jones showed poise, toughness, accuracy, and a strong understanding of the system for much of his rookie campaign. When the Patriots entered their Week 14 bye, they sat atop the AFC standings with a 9-4 record.
Mac Jones to Hunter Henry for another touchdown. The Patriots are crushing the Browns. (Video via @BenBrownPL)
— Pats Buzz (@PatsBuzz) November 14, 2021
But everything changed after the bye week. Here’s a breakdown of Jones’ stats before and after the bye:
Pre-bye week (13 games): 70.3% completion percentage, 97.0 passer rating, 16 TDs, eight INTs, 24 sacks, 9-4 record
Post-bye week (four games): 59.8% completion percentage, 79.7 passer rating, six TDs, five INTs, four sacks, 1-3 record
It all culminated in a disastrous 47-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card matchup. Jones battled hard and played encouragingly well, but Josh Allen and the Bills dominated the depleted Patriots.
It was an ugly end to a once-promising season. However, the good ultimately outweighed the bad for Jones, who was named to the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster as an alternate.
Why Did Jones Fail in New England?
Well, it’s complicated.
The turning point for Jones was the departure of McDaniels, who left to join the Las Vegas Raiders and took a slew of Patriots assistants with him. Belichick eventually tabbed Matt Patricia and Joe Judge — a defensive-first coach and special teams-first coach, respectively — to lead the offense, with Patricia handling play-calling duties.
From the start of spring practices, it was clear the Patriots were in trouble. The offense lacked creativity and a sense of direction, and, behind the scenes, Jones and other Patriots were resisting the change.
The offense looked predictably terrible in the first few weeks. Jones, normally a mistake-averse quarterback, committed six turnovers in those three games. In Week 3, he suffered a high ankle sprain that changed his career forever.
Jones missed three weeks, during which rookie fourth-rounder Bailey Zappe led the Patriots to two victories while winning over an increasingly frustrated fan base. Then, during the Week 7 edition of “Monday Night Football,” Jones returned ahead of schedule only to be booed off the field and benched after two rough drives.
Zappe Chants break out as the #Patriots go down 10-0 pic.twitter.com/dn7lpnuwWv
— Babz (@BabzOnTheMic) October 25, 2022
Jones started the remaining 10 games, but his confidence was clearly shot, and he drew criticism for airing out coaches during games. The Patriots went 5-5 over that stretch and missed the playoffs. Along the way, fans clamored for Zappe to get another shot, with Belichick’s stubborn vagueness fueling the quarterback controversy.
“Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league,” Belichick said after the season when asked whether Jones was a franchise quarterback. “We all have to work together to find the best way as a football team, obviously quarterback is a big position, to be more productive.”
The lukewarm review set the stage for a drama-filled offseason that, at one point, saw Patriots owner Robert Kraft claim Lamar Jackson wanted to be traded to New England. The Patriots hired Bill O’Brien as their next offensive coordinator and ran it back with Jones as their top quarterback.
O’Brien was supposed to cure Jones and the ailing Patriots offense, but he offered no antidote in 2023.
Playing behind an awful offensive line and surrounded by subpar weapons, Jones regressed even further in his third season. In the first 11 games, he completed just 64.9% of his passes for 2,120 yards and 10 TDs along with 12 interceptions, 22 sacks, and three lost fumbles.
The Patriots went 2-9 in those games, with Jones benched for Zappe during the final two. Zappe started the final six games — Jones served as the top backup until being healthy-scratched in the season finale.
By the end, Belichick barely could be bothered to mention Jones by name, and a demoralized Jones had lost nearly all support inside the locker room. It was that bad.
At the end of the day, everyone deserves blame for Jones’ downfall. Belichick, his assistants, the players, and even the fans all played their parts, and Jones was neither good nor mature enough to overcome the adversity.
Who Traded Jones?
The Patriots fired Belichick after last season — Kraft’s words, not ours — and quickly replaced him with Mayo. However, Mayo wasn’t given personnel responsibilities, and the Patriots didn’t name Eliot Wolf their de facto general manager until later in the offseason.
Ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, Wolf and fellow executive Matt Groh collaborated on roster-building decisions, including the decision to trade Jones to the Jaguars on March 10.
The move was made official on March 14. Jones, who attended Mayo’s introductory news conference, was sent to his hometown team.
Mac Jones is here pic.twitter.com/RYjhZVPGIP
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) January 17, 2024
What Was the Compensation in the Jones Trade?
The Patriots received the 193rd pick (sixth round) in the 2024 NFL Draft in exchange for Jones.
With the pick, New England selected Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III, a toolsy, big-armed quarterback with little experience in a pro-style offense. Milton was the second QB taken in the draft by the Patriots, who used the third overall pick to select UNC product Drake Maye.
Milton starred late in New England’s first preseason game and is an interesting developmental prospect. He was inactive in each of the first six games while serving as the emergency third quarterback.