Mac Jones feeling a lot trust and positivity among Patriots offense heading into new season
FOXBORO -- A new season is offering a fresh start for Mac Jones and the entirety of the Patriots offense. After the unit struggled throughout the 202 campaign, there's a new voice leading the way from the locker room, one that has instilled a lot of trust -- and a lot more fun -- for everyone involved.
After last season's debacle under Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, Bill O'Brien is now at the forefront of the Patriots offense. The new offensive coordinator doesn't sugarcoat anything, and he's been praised for his communication with players since returning to New England. Players know exactly what O'Brien wants and expects out of them, and they're eager to live up to his expectations.
But he's also down for having a little fun, which has been evident throughout training camp in Foxboro. Jones still lets the trash talk fly, but the quarterback is rarely seen without a smile on his face. His receiving corps is using doubt from others as a rallying cry, and having a whole lot of fun with it.
That all appears to be a product of O'Brien, who lightens the mood while also keeping everyone focused on the task at hand.
"O-B does a great job controlling the room and brings a lot of humor to the meetings," Jones told Evan Washburn of CBS Sports after a recent training camp practice. "But also, it's all business. We're having a good time in there but at the end of the day we all know we're trying to win games. He's definitely going to put us in a spot to do it, we just have to go out there and have his back and do it for him."
This is a big year for Jones as he enters his third season in the NFL. In his chat with Washburn, the quarterback highlighted the amount of trust that everyone on the offense has in one another, which he sees as an important foundation of any good team.
"For any operation to work you have to have trust," Jones told Washburn after a recent training camp practice. "Then from there you can execute and win. If you don't have trust you don't have anything. It's something I've always taken a lot of pride in with my coaches, guys I play with and everything like that. It's definitely a big word. Consistency as well."
While the 2022 season was a difficult one for just about everyone on the New England offense, Jones said it also presented a lot of learning opportunities.
"Every year is a learning experience. It's sometimes easier to learn when you're winning a lot of games and harder when you're not. So just to be able to learn and move on, not let the same mistake happen twice or correct it before it happens, that's a big thing," he said. "The motto stays the same: Go out there, compete, and win."
While everything has run much smoother under O'Brien, Jones and the rest of the New England offense knows it will ultimately come down to them executing on the field for the Patriots to have success in 2023.
"It's what we make it. Every year it's a new offense; it's the same system but we have to create our own identity. I feel like we have a lot of energy in the room -- a lot of positive energy," said Jones. "I feel like we have a good group of leaders and we just have to go out there and control our own destiny, focus on what we can control. That is doing the right thing on each play and really playing for each other. Regardless of the scheme, you want to play for your brother next to you. I feel like we're very close. We just have to keep getting closer.
"It's a great group," he said of the New England offense. "We have a lot of older guys who have played a lot of football here but also guys who have played for other teams. It's always good to get their opinions on things. A guy like JuJu [Smith-Schuster] who has played in a Super Bowl and won a Super Bowl, or a guy like David [Andrews] who has won a few Super Bowls. You wanna use them as resources and bounce ideas off them and really just follow their lead and set the example for the young guys."
The Patriots are hoping for a much better outcome than last season's 8-9 finish, but that could be tough in a stacked AFC East. Many pundits are picking them to finish in last place in the division and miss the playoffs for a second straight season, but that is inspiring these Patriots to compete even harder.
Jones believes that going up against New England's stout defense every day in practice will help the offense's cause when the real season arrives next month.
"It's a great division and obviously a tough league. The toughest in the world. You just have to go out every day and compete," he said. "Really against our defense is where it starts. We have a great defense, so take advantage of those reps and from there just be where your feet are and kind of focus on the now. I know that is hard but if you can do that, when the games come and you're going against good teams and tough situations, you can go back to your training and trust your training.'
