It’s often said that if you don’t have trust, then you have nothing.
That may just be a lesson that Patriots third-year quarterback Mac Jones and the New England offense learned the hard way a year ago.
Bill Belichick chose to “experiment” with his coaching staff with career defensive coach Matt Patricia running the offense. Predictably, it did not work. It was dysfunctional in ways that were almost inexplicable from the summer straight through the dismal conclusion to the season.
Jones struggled. He regressed. He displayed understandable frustration.
And Belichick’s handling of his young former first-round pick became curious if not concerning.
Reports declared that Jones had “made an enemy of” his head coach and that Belichick may have even explored trade opportunities.
There were issues. Trust issues, seemingly. From quarterback to coach and vice versa.
So it’s notable and warranted that in his press conference following a hopeful first practice to kick off preparations for a hopeful new 2023season, Jones declared that “trust” is a big word around Gillette Stadium these hot summer days.
Asked about embracing the challenge of having a third offensive coordinator in three NFL seasons thanks to the heralded arrival of Bill O’Brien, Jones took hopeful tone that was evident throughout his meeting with the media.
“You're the quarterback, and at the end of the day when we're on that field, they need to feel confident in me and I need to feel confident in them. I think that's built through trust; I think that's the big word here for this training camp is trust,” Jones said. “That's going to come through trial and error, it's going to come through good and bad, so it's not always going to be great. So, just having that positive mindset and just kind of staying the course, running my race and bringing people along with me.”
Trust. Trust between Jones and his receivers. Jones and his line. Jones and his coaches. And in terms of each of those relationships, trust in the opposite direction as well.
“I'm definitely self-motivated and all those things come from within. I'm just trying to be the best version of me, and I hope my teammates can see that. I'm going to just grind it out and hopefully, I can bring a lot of people along with me,” Jones said.
Unlike Patricia, O’Brien has been here and done this job before. He had success running Alabama’s offense shortly after Jones left campus. He found various degrees of success with various quarterbacks in his time as the head coach of the Texans. And, he obviously helped Tom Brady and Co. get to a Super Bowl during his first tour through Foxborough.
“I think it's great. I think it's a great challenge,” Jones said of another new coach with a new approach. “I always talk about my time at Alabama and I was fortunate to play for some really good coordinators.
Obviously, I crossed paths with [Bill O’Brien] there, so I'm definitely excited. I definitely think we’ve got a lot of stuff we’ve got to work on, and I just feel like we have a good mojo going. But, at the end of the day, it's the first day and we’ve got to stack days together.”
Jones and New England’s offense under Patricia was described in a lot of ways last year. Having “a good mojo going” was never a part of the conversation, though.
And as far as Jones’ relationship with Belichick, one that could be a key factor in the franchises foundation in terms of both the present and the future, well it sounds like it’s probably in a better place now than it was in the not-too-distant past.
“I think we're good. I think the biggest thing that we've all talked about is just having a fresh start,” Jones said. “I think there's a lot of learning experiences from last year that we've talked about and this year, it's all about just working together, right? You’ve got to come up with a plan, obviously talk about it, and then execute it. So, I'm excited for that part of it. For me, I'm just trying to be really consistent, try not to ride the wave, just stay my course and hopefully, everybody on our offense feels that, too. I think Coach O'Brien does a great job laying out what we do well so far, and we're going to learn every day what we do well and then from there, you just keep moving forward and execute the plan. So, I'm definitely excited for that.”
One thing that Jones didn’t say to open training camp? Something he said many, many times last summer? He never uttered the seemingly always ill-fatted but popular “trust the process” line that’s become staple of the modern sports world.
Because Jones doesn’t need to trust the process if he once again trusts those leading the process.
It may seem like a minor difference, a splitting of verbal hairs.
But for Jones and the Patriots’ offense, trusting O’Brien this summer may just make all the difference in the world.