Mac Jones entered his second NFL season (2022) believing the New England Patriots were ready to build off a fantastic rookie season. Instead, the former first-round pick found himself trapped in coaching uncertainty, offensive experiments, and a system overhaul. He believes that all of these altered his trajectory at New England. 

“I felt like I wanted to build and I wasn’t satisfied, and nobody on our team was going to the playoffs and getting our butts kicked. But we did build something kinda cool early. Played good on offense. Like, we were top probably 10 offense, whatever. Our defense was really good,” Jones recalled during his appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “So, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s build this.’

“And Josh McDaniels ended up leaving. That was kinda step one. Thanks, Josh,” the quarterback noted. “He obviously coached us and got that chance to be head coach again and that’s what he wanted to do. And good for him. 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.” 

In Jones’ second season, he was dealing with an entirely new system; when McDaniels left, he took three New England assistants with him. Joe Judge, who had worked with special teams mostly until then, was named quarterbacks coach. And Matt Patricia, who made his name coaching defenses, was assigned play-calling duties by Bill Belichick. 

The Patriots went 8-9 that season. Jones threw for 2,997 yards, far less than the 3,801 he recorded as a rookie. He recorded a five-game streak of interceptions, having thrown seven in that span. Jones was infamously intercepted three times in the second half of the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills, which ended their playoff hopes. He was also sacked 34 times that season.

“My guy had the case of the Yips,” former Patriots icon Julian Edelman said on Cam Newton’s 4th&1 podcast. “He was seeing ghosts out there and that could happen. He wasn’t playing with his feet under him and it just looks like he lost his confidence.”

The Patriots hired Bill O’Brien in 2023, but Jones wasn’t able to deliver under his leadership either. Eventually, the QB was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jones has since been fighting to prove he’s still got it. Last season, he was holding down the fort for the San Francisco 49ers while Brock Purdy was out with an injury. In the 11 games he played, Jones threw for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, and was intercepted six times.

He claims the team is Purdy’s, and he is just going to do his job as a backup. But one can’t help but think of a scenario where Jones had a sustained career as a starter.