New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones used a word Wednesday to describe his working relationship with new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien that might not usually cause fans to breath a sigh of relief.

But after a 2022 season that was anything but, it seems like the Patriots’ offense is going back to “normal.”

O’Brien spent the last two seasons as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in the college ranks. He previously was head coach of the Houston Texans and Penn State after an earlier stint as Patriots offensive coordinator.

"It's been really good," Jones said. "It's been normal. I think everything he's done so far has been really good. Communication is the most important part. And trust. I think it all starts with that with a new coach. He's done a great job controlling the room. I feel like everyone's on the same page.

"Just gotta continue to do it. It's a marathon not a sprint, we know that. He's obviously had a lot of great experience in the NFL and at Alabama where I was at so there's a lot of good stuff that we talk about. Just looking forward to working with him."

It would be unfair to assume what Jones meant by his comments. But the Patriots had former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and former special teams coordinator Joe Judge running their offense in 2022. Normalcy is good. Normalcy is great. It might be exactly what New England needs to get back on track this season.

Jones wouldn’t get into specifics about how much O’Brien brought from Alabama or how similar the Patriots’ current offense is to what the team ran in 2021 under Josh McDaniels. But it sounds like Jones and O’Brien are on the same page. Last season, that didn’t always appear to be the case with Jones and his offensive coaches.

“There’s definitely things, like we talk about lingo,” Jones said. “There’s things we both say and it makes sense. So, that’s important. A the end of the day, football is football and we’re kind of building our own thing here and utilizing the guys we have here. We have a good group of guys, veteran group and really it’s about molding together as a team. That’s the most important part is how do you come together and trust each other regardless of what the plays are.”

Jones was the NFL’s top rookie quarterback in 2021 before taking a massive step back last season. It might be unfair to truly assess anything that happened on offense in 2022, so playing under O’Brien this year will be a true test of where Jones stands in his NFL journey.

Featured image via Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports