The New England Patriots seemingly have their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future and successor to Tom Brady in Drake Maye. That was evident after Maye shined in a 23-20 upset win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. The thing is, this came five years after Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. But, better late than never.
One of the quarterbacks the Patriots tried to succeed Brady was Mac Jones, their 2021 first-round pick. There was promise in his rookie year, but his play regressed in New England so rapidly, he was out after three years. Now, Jones is, predictably, thriving with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Brock Purdy. So far this year, Jones is 3-0 in three starts.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Jones' former head coach at Alabama, Nick Saban, heaped praise on him for his success with the 49ers. Saban also called out the Patriots for not setting Jones up to succeed, mainly due to the coaching staffs in place during his tenure.
"I'm so happy for Mac," Saban said, h/t CBS Sports.""I think Mac was one of those guys who was in bad situations in New England relative to coaching and all that type of stuff, and who was the offensive coordinator, and how did he get developed when he came into the league. He hasn't been in great circumstances. I think, right now, he is in a really good circumstance with Shanahan and their offense."
Nick Saban criticizes Patriots over handling of Mac Jones amid success with 49ers
Saban isn't wrong here when it comes to the coaching that Jones had to deal with. The tail end of Bill Belichick's storied coaching career on the Patriots was nightmarish, especially with how he handled the coaching staff.
Jones succeeded in his rookie season, as he had Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator. After McDaniels left to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Belichick replaced him with both Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, both of whom do not have expertise on offense. The results were, predictably, bad. Jones had thrown for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions on a 65.2 completion percentage in 14 games that year.
In his third and what would be his final season, Jones had Bill O'Brien as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Coming off of a successful run as offensive coordinator at Alabama under Saban, it was viewed as an upgrade for Jones. But it didn't work out, as Jones threw for 2,120 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a 64.9 completion percentage in 11 games.
Now, Jones is having a career resurgence in San Francisco under head coach Kyle Shanahan. Ironically, he ended up on the team that many thought would draft him with the third-overall pick in 2021.
In three starts in place of an injured Purdy, Jones has completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 905 yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception. Jones also showed off his toughness in those games, as he is playing through a PCL sprain. His latest big performance came against the Los Angeles Rams, where he threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-23 overtime win.
Patriots fans won't deny that the team didn't do much to help out Jones in terms of coaching. He is in a better spot in San Francisco. But, the Patriots have moved on, as they have Maye as their face of the franchise for years to come.