To put it simply, the 2022 season was a complete disaster for both the New England Patriots and [autotag]Mac Jones[/autotag]. It was the second time in three years that they missed the playoffs.
From the start, the Patriots offense was set to fail last season. New England’s long-time offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, departed for a head coaching opportunity with the Raiders which led to Bill Belichick bringing in defensive coach, Matt Patricia, to run the offense. It failed miserably and as a result, Patricia was fired after just one season.
The Patriots also pulled Jones’s starting spot in the middle of the season in favor of rookie QB Bailey Zappe after an injury sidelined Jones for a little. Jones ultimately got his job back, but it was a head-scratching decision. To top it all off, the Patriots were one of the worst teams in the league when it came to skill position players last year and it just felt like Jones was never getting help.
In 2023, the Patriots added former Alabama OC, Bill O’Brien to run the offense and added guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster to the receiving unit. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson was the lone bright spot from the Patriots a season ago, but it sounds like the Patriots are looking to be a big-time buyer in the RB market right now to add a little depth at the position.
Former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro back, Ezekial Elliot, was in Foxborough this weekend meeting with the Patriots organization as reported by Ian Rapoport. For Jones, this takes even more weight off the former Pro Bowler’s shoulders. Jones will be asked to do a lot less with a backfield consisting of Stevenson and Elliot would be a two-headed monster that would be an absolute problem for defenses to deal with. Jones and Elliot were spotted in Seaport together grabbing dinner which sent X, formerly known as Twitter, ablaze with speculation.
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