A tumultuous 2022 season sputtered to an ugly end with the New England Patriots getting knocked out of playoff contention for the second time in three years.
Quarterback Mac Jones and the offense have headlined the discussion heading into an offseason of uncertainty. There have been reports that things weren’t so hunky-dory behind the scenes with Jones and the coaching staff. Patriots safety Devin McCourty recently pushed back on many of those claims during an appearance on “Good Morning Football.”
But there’s another report lurking out there that touches on the actual approach from the coaches, when it came to working with Jones.
FOX Sports’ Henry McKenna dropped a nugget on Monday from a source that claimed Patriots coaches were “instructed not to be too hard on Jones.” Per the source, the reasoning behind that decision stemmed from an incident back in 2021, when Jones reportedly struggled after being yelled at.
McKenna wrote:
“Eventually, Jones said he wanted to be coached harder. A team source told me that coaches were instructed not to be too hard on Jones in an effort to protect him from being too critical of himself. There was an issue in 2021 with Jones struggling after getting yelled at, per the source. That source also suggested, in hindsight, it might have been a mistake to go easy on the quarterback.”
The possibility that Jones would have a negative reaction to hard coaching does come off a bit surprising considering he spent his collegiate career being coached by the Bill Belichick of college football, Nick Saban.
If anything, it would seem as if he’d be more prepared to deal with hard coaching than most young quarterbacks. Add this report as one of many that appear to be piling against Jones, who is set to enter a pivotal Year 3 season.
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