Mac Jones reportedly unnerved people across the NFL last season, as he clashed with coaches on the sidelines. It seems his coaches couldn’t exactly lash out back at him for reasons we are just now finding out.
At one point of the season, Jones said after the New England Patriots’ Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills that he wanted to be coached harder. However, a new report is shedding light on coaches being told to back off of him.
FOX Sports’ Henry McKenna reports Patriots coaches “were instructed not to be too hard on Jones in an effort to protect him from being too critical of himself.” A team source also told McKenna that “there was an issue in 2021 with Jones struggling after getting yelled at.”
After a stellar 2021 season, Jones had a challenging second season as he was forced to adjust to a new offense coached by Matt Patricia and Joe Judge instead of Josh McDaniels, who went and signed on as a head coach of the Raiders.
He found himself being booed as fans wanted backup QB Bailey Zappe to play in more games over him. It was especially loud after he led the Patriots to consecutive wins over the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns. Bill Belichick pulled him from a Week 7 game at Gillette Stadium as fans chanted “We Want Zappe.”
Jones would hold on to his starting job the rest of the way. However, things would boil over as Jones was caught on television throwing verbal tirades aimed at coaches. According to McKenna, the team source suggested “in hindsight, it might have been a mistake to go easy on the quarterback.”
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Year 3 will be a pivotal season for Jones as he’ll be eligible for a contract extension after the 2023 season.
