All season long, Dan Orlovsky was one of the leading voices who criticized the Patriots for their handling of Mac Jones. At one point, the ex-quarterback even said Jones should seek a trade if changes aren’t made.
On ESPN Tuesday, Orlovsky, who also appears weekly on WEEI, called again for the Patriots to make a change at offensive coordinator. “There has to be a coordinator change,” he said. “Somebody that has a strong history of calling plays in the NFL.”
Obviously, that wouldn’t be Matt Patricia, who floundered as New England’s offensive play-caller. The Patriots, and Jones, regressed in every significant offensive category from the previous season.
At multiple points, Jones was caught voicing his frustration about the Patriots’ rudderless offense, shouting expletives on the field. Orlovsky says he thinks Jones’ exasperation stemmed from the fact that he didn’t trust the Patriots’ coaches.
“I want to make a very clear point of the difference in my eyes of Mac Jones last year to this year. It has to do with an exclamation point and a question mark,” said Orlovsky. “Last year, Mac understand the ‘why’ with an exclamation point. ‘I know why we’re running this play! Because this is how we want attack this person, or this defense, or we’re really good at this.’ This year he was asking ‘why’ with a question mark. ‘Why are we calling this play? Why are we doing it that way?’
Jones hinted numerous times he didn’t buy into the Patriots’ offensive philosophy, telling reporters at one point he wants to be coached harder.
Bill Belichick, for his part, hasn’t expressed a lot of confidence in Jones, either. On Monday, Belichick refused to guarantee Jones will be the Patriots’ starter next season, only saying the 2021 first-round pick “can play quarterback this league.”
That’s certainly be true. But this season, he struggled to play quarterback here, for a myriad of reasons.
