Robert Griffin III sees the brilliance in the Patriots’ unusual coaching setup, and how it could benefit Mac Jones.
In a conversation with ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Griffin, who’s now an ESPN analyst, said he thinks Jones will be forced to take more ownership of the offense in his second season.
“The coaching setup will have a massive impact on Mac Jones in a good way,” Griffin said. “Mac has already spoken about how it has been a collaborative process with the coaches and players talking in meetings, installing the offense. And I believe that will lead to more ownership from him about what is being called and how he sees the game.”
That is an interesting way to look at it: working with inexperienced offensive coaches will hasten Jones’ developmental process. Usually, teams like to pair young quarterbacks with proven offensive coordinators. But the Patriots have always been unorthodox.
During minicamp, Matt Patricia was spotted calling running plays, while Joe Judge took control of the passing game. Bill Belichick called plays as well, including during full scrimmages.
The Patriots have admittedly changed some of their terminology on the offensive side of the ball to “streamline” the process.
Jones is generating rave reviews due to his work ethic and training regimen. In addition to holding numerous practices with Patriots wideouts, he looks absolutely jacked.
As a rookie, Jones completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 picks. Griffin thinks he’ll receive great opportunities to improve upon those numbers early on.
The lack of a clear offensive philosophy could make it difficult for the Patriots to game plan against, especially early on.
"If you don't know who the coordinator is, the scheme, or tendencies, it makes it harder to game plan against early in the year," Griffin said. "That will allow this unconventional staff to get its footing early in the year. Advantage Patriots.”
In a tweet last week, Griffin declared Jones is the most likely quarterback of his class to win a ring first.
Anybody who wants to clime aboard the Mac Jones bandwagon is going to have to sit next to RGIII. He’s already there.
