Former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had an impressive rookie campaign in 2021 before falling off a cliff in 2022 and 2023, leading to his eventual departure from the team that drafted him in the first round via trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While there are many reasons for Jones' failure in New England, former Patriots running back Damien Harris puts the blame squarely on the team's former head coach, Bill Belichick.
“What happened to Mac Jones in New England, was not because of Mac Jones," Harris said on "The Athletic Football Show." "What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro-Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback… then you take Matt Patricia who’s coached defense his entire life. Joe Judge who’s been a special teams coach… and then you just throw them in there and say, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first-round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything gonna be fine.’
"(Expletive) wasn’t fine. Now Mac Jones is in Jacksonville… the breath of Mac Jones in New England — it came and went. It shouldn’t have (gone) the way that it went. The only reason that it did was because Bill Belichick, being stuck in his ways, was very much so ‘As long as I am here. As long as I am, along with Robert Kraft, the top dog at this organization, no matter who, no matter where, what position, where they coach, whatever, we will have success.’
"I think that started kinda was this Cam Newton situation… everybody was like, ‘What the (expletive) is this? Why Cam Newton?’ Bill thought that he could make it work. It didn’t really work.
"Then we drafted Mac. We had a hell of a year… went on to win seven straight. At that time we were kinda looking at ourselves like we might have a Super Bowl run here… then the next year after that you replace… Josh McDaniels with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge and then look at the year we had that year… now Mac Jones is all of a sudden gone. I think that everybody can look at what I just said. And ultimately, just watch it for what it was and kinda say that maybe Bill Belichick did not do right by Mac Jones.”
Belichick does deserve the lion's share of the blame for Jones' struggles over the last two years for exactly the reasons that Harris lays out.
If they did more to put Jones in a position to succeed, whether that be having better coaches or better weapons, the former Alabama quarterback could've taken New England back to the playoffs in his second or third season.
