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M
ac Jones might be entering his second year in the NFL but he is already passing on knowledge to his New England Patriots coaches.
Jones got to learn from one of the best offensive minds in the NFL in Josh McDaniels. Now that McDaniels is the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, the quarterback will have a new voice in his ear.
So far that voice appears to be Joe Judge. Judge said that he has been working with Jones and other skill position players so far this offseason. With OTA’s underway, Judge has been seen coaching up Jones at the Gillette Stadium training ground.
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Jones spoke to the media on Monday and said that he won’t just be learning from Judge. The quarterback believes that he and the offensive coach can both learn from one another.
“He’s done a great job coaching us. He’s seen a lot of football. Obviously, he’s been around football for a long time, whether that’s as a head coach, special teams, playing the position himself, so he has knowledge that is very beneficial to me as a quarterback,” Jones said, after Monday’s session. “Obviously, I’m going to learn with him. The goal is to kind of teach each other, move along, and take what he knows, take the experiences that I have, and combine them, and work together as a great team.”
Why is This the case?
While Judge might have spent plenty of years in the NFL compared to Jones, his focus hasn’t been on helping quarterbacks improve. He started in New England as a special teams coach and the closest he has been to coaching quarterbacks is being a wide receivers coach.
While Jones might not be as experienced in his area of the game, he has had a great start to his NFL career. Jones threw for 22 touchdowns in 2021 which was the most of any rookie quarterback in the NFL.
The rookie quarterback lead New England to a 10-7 record and looked comfortable under center. Those 10 wins were the most by a rookie QB in franchise history.
There has been a lot of secrecy regarding the offensive coaching staff and who will be calling plays. While Judge has been working with Jones, Tom E Curran said that based on what he saw at Day 1 of OTA’s, Bill Belichick could be the one calling plays.
How Important is This Year for Mac Jones?
All eyes will be on Jones in 2022. Will this be the year that he takes the crucial next step in his career or could he end up showing his true colors and end up struggling?
The Patriots didn’t make life easy on the quarterback with all the changes to the offensive coaching staff. In a year where he could have benefitted from a constant presence, Jones will have to learn and work with a new play caller.
So Judge won’t be the only one that is teaching this year. The coach can learn from Jones and that seems to be well understood by both parties.