Devin McCourty has blunt admission on Mac Jones' time with Patriots
Mac Jones' time in New England appears to have come to an end. And it's clear that things didn't work out for either party. On Wednesday, Devin McCourty spoke about Jones' struggles this season, commenting on whether it was the fault of the quarterback or the Patriots. “I mean, to me it's a no brainer. […]
Mac Jones' time in New England appears to have come to an end. And it's clear that things didn't work out for either party.
On Wednesday, Devin McCourty spoke about Jones' struggles this season, commenting on whether it was the fault of the quarterback or the Patriots.
“I mean, to me it's a no brainer. Everybody in the organization’s raved about the guy's work ethic. How he's there early, he's there late. So, to me, it's hard to just say, like, it's his fault," McCourty said on The Greg Hill Show on WEEI (via Mike Kadlick). "I don't think, no matter how you feel about him, I don't think you’d walk away from the situation and say, ‘hey, you know, this situation that they built around him was really good and he just didn't get the job done.’ Like, to me, there's no way, if you're gonna be factual, you gotta look, there's just no way.
Jones was drafted by the Patriots in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and had a stellar rookie season. With Josh McDaniels leading the offense, Jones finished with 352 completions for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns, also being named to the Pro Bowl.
However, with McDaniels leaving to take the head coaching job for the Las Vegas Raiders, it was Matt Patricia (and Joe Judge) spearheading the offense. And Jones took a serious decline.
Things didn't get any better for the third-year quarterback this season despite the team bringing in Bill O'Brien.
"You have three different offensive coordinators in three years," McCourty explained. "They had different receivers, and I would say impact players kind of each year. All have been kind of moving parts. Seemed like he kind of build a connection with Jakobi Meyers, then Jakobi’s gone."
"So like it would be hard for me to just say, ‘hey, like it's all him,’" McCourty added. "Like Kendrick Bourne, his rookie year goes out there has a kind of a career year. Then the next year, Kendrick Bourne doesn't really play at all…"
So far this season, Jones has been benched four times during the game, which all led to Bailey Zappe earning the start in last week's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. As of now, he has thrown 224 completions for 2,120 yards and 10 touchdowns, along with 12 interceptions this year.
"I have no problem with the guys that watch and say, ‘hey, I evaluated this quarterback, his arm strength, his mobility. Like if you want to come up with all of those metrics that you think makes a quarterback good and you think he doesn't hit those certain criteria that you like in a quarterback, I get that," McCourty said. "But I think. overall, if you say, ‘hey, which side do you see more at fault?’ To me it’s no doubt the organization, what's been put around him, for these straight three years.”
So while Jones may not be the quarterback everyone wanted him to be, McCourty makes his opinion clear: the organization let him down.
