jones and mego: mac jones joins the show
The Patriots' offense has a new look on life heading into 2023, and a lot of it has to do with coordinator Bill O’Brien.
O’Brien was hired by the team in January to not only reestablish some normalcy on offense, but also to reinvigorate third-year quarterback Mac Jones. The signal caller spoke on the addition, of O'Brien, New England's offense as a whole, and more, on WEEI’s Jones and Mego on Monday:
“I try to just focus on getting better and staying on my process. Right?” Jones told the show about how he's transitioned from last season. “I think a lot of the good players in the NFL do that. During preseason you might not be getting all of the reps, you might not be getting in the game as much, but you have to still focus on what’s ahead and still focus on the now.”
Jones was also asked about his comfort in operating New England’s offense heading into his third season, while also giving some friendly snark to Adam Jones:
“Have you ever like, played football before?” Jones asked Jones with a laugh. “That’s something that’s cool about this system that’s been here for so long. It’s all about the quarterback and getting us into the right play, but it’s also all about everybody else because everybody has to be on the same page. It takes 11 guys and we’re trying to grow that part of it and kind of get back to what we can do really well in having multiple plays run at one time and things like that. It’s all a part of the journey and we’ll just continue to expand on that so we can have the most success possible for that play.”
On working with new coordinator Bill O’Brien specifically, Jones explained that, “it’s super unique because it’s the Patriots but it’s also, for me, it’s Alabama too. Not to bring up the past too much but like, he’s seen the system that I ran at Alabama, we’ve talked about it, and then obviously what he did here, like 2007 or whenever it was.”
The former Crimson Tide signal caller also said it’s been a collaborative process with his new OC: “He’s really good about pulling up all of the old film and making sure that everything is sound… He’s always very open to trying things, especially during practice, but at the end of the day I know he’s the coach and he’s going to make the right calls in the game.”
He continued: “It’s definitely a partnership, you want to be able to work together, regardless of who your coach is everytime you go out there. To have the trust in him and then him to trust you to do the right thing so, still building that, we have a lot of stuff we have to work through but at the same time I’ve been like really pleased with a lot of the progress we’ve made from before OTAs, to OTAs, to training camp to kind of putting it into a game.”
In a story posted to Sports Illustrated on Monday, Jones told NFL reporter Albert Breer that he wants to get back to being ‘Alabama Mac’ in 2023. He elaborated on what that means with Jones and Mego:
“Continuing to work hard, and be myself, and going out there and distributing the ball,” Jones explained. “We have great playmakers here and I feel like I did my best at Alabama when I just got the ball to other people and let them make plays. That’s what it all comes down to, it’s pretty simple. Just be a point guard and let them go make all the plays and score the touchdowns and then celebrate with the offensive line.”
This is how the Patriots offense will have success this season and while it hasn’t been perfect thus far, they’re miles ahead of where they were last year at this time and, most importantly, the one running the operation in Mac Jones sounds confident in the system and comfortable with running it.
The Patriots head to Nashville on Friday for their final preseason matchup versus the Titans, with kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. EST.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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