Mac Jones' sophomore season has been a disappointment, to say the least.
The New England Patriots quarterback hasn't been able to find his rhythm through the first nine games of the campaign. He has looked like a different player than the one who unquestionably was the most impressive QB of the 2021 draft class last year.
There are a number of factors that haven't worked in Jones' favor. Most notably, he has had to adjust to a Matt Patricia/Joe Judge-coached offense after spending the 2021 season with veteran offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He also suffered a high-ankle sprain that caused him to miss three weeks of the season, leading to a brief quarterback controversy with rookie backup Bailey Zappe.
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It's fair to say the jury is still out on Jones in New England, but how do folks around the league perceive the Alabama product? The MMQB's Albert Breer shared insight on what he has heard about Jones from NFL executives.
"I feel like there's some doubts about the quarterback," Breer said Thursday on Early Edition. "Last night, I asked around. I texted a half-dozen execs and said, 'Who would be the second quarterback to go in the 2021 draft if you re-drafted them now?' Four of them said (Justin) Fields, one of them said he'd stick to his guns on Trey Lance because he hasn't seen him enough, and another one said (Zach) Wilson. None of them said Mac."
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After a tumultuous rookie season, Fields has hit his stride in 2022. The Chicago Bears QB has thrown for 12 touchdowns and rushed for six more. He has racked up 749 yards via the ground through 10 games.
Breer notes that Fields' success and Jones' struggles can be directly correlated to their surroundings.
"Justin Fields was in a really bad situation last year. All the talent we're seeing this year, that was there last year," Breer said. "He just was in a volatile situation where the coach was about to get fired, with different play-callers, all this chaos happening around him. And now, everything's calmed down for him. He knows who his play-caller is. They're playing to his strengths and we're seeing his talent.
"I think Mac is sort of the reverse of that where he had a veteran offensive coordinator his first year, they weren't asking that much of him, and he played great. Now, everything's sort of been turned upside down on him and we're seeing a lot of this was due to environment."
So, how can Jones overcome those hurdles and improve during the second half of the Patriots season? Breer shared his take.
"One thing some of these people who evaluated him have told me consistently over the course of this year is it doesn't look like he trusts the offense," Breer said. "When he goes out there he's clutching the ball. You see a lot of it where it doesn't look like he's trusting what he's seeing, which is a different player than what we saw last year. So I think the first thing is getting him concepts that he trusts. Figuring out what he likes and focusing on that.
"The other thing I think can get him going, and I think we saw a little bit of it before the bye, some of the stuff they were doing for Bailey Zappe. The easy-money completions where you can get yourself into second-and-4 and third-and-1 more consistently, or throwing on early downs when they're not expecting you to throw. Getting him easy yardage is another way to get him rolling."
Coming off the bye week, Pats fans will hope Jones and the offense are revitalized when New England hosts the New York Jets on Sunday.
You can watch the full Early Edition segment with Breer below: