A.J. McCarron preceded Bill O’Brien at Alabama, but the former Crimson Tide quarterback played for O’Brien during his final two seasons with the Texans. And he has nothing but rave reviews.
Speaking to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, McCarron described O’Brien’s office as “quarterback-friendly,” which must sound great to Mac Jones.
“OB is a wonderful coach; very intelligent, and he gets guys to play hard. I think he’s going to do an excellent job there,” said McCarron.
The Patriots fired O’Brien as their new offensive coordinator last month, putting an end to Matt Patricia’s disastrous tenure as the team’s offensive play caller. Jones floundered last season under Patricia and quarterbacks coach Joe Judge.
McCarron, who now plays in the XFL, has some history with the Patriots’ old style of offense. He signed with the Bills as a free agent in 2018, and played under then-offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
O’Brien employed a similar offensive scheme through most of his time with the Texans.
“What helped me grow a ton as a player was going to Houston,” said McCarron. “I dove into that offense and, ever since, I’ve wanted to know everything -- run-blocking schemes, pass-blocking schemes, it’s the quarterback getting us in the best situation possible.”
That would be quite a shift from last season, in which Jones was put in the unenviable spot of working with inexperienced coaches who were trying to implement a playbook they weren’t familiar with. The Boston Herald’s expose last month on the Patriots’ dysfunction contained multiple anecdotes from sources about how Patricia and Judge were unable to make in-game adjustments or put together a coherent scheme.
At the least, O’Brien is a real offensive coach. It’s been reported that Jones is “very excited” to work with him, as he should be.
