Getty New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones
Fans of the New England Patriots haven’t been impressed with quarterback Mac Jones and things might not get any better.
Former NFL GM Randy Mueller recently told Heavy that he believes Jones is limited physically.
“Mac Jones is limited physically,” Mueller said. “He’s not Justin Fields. He’s not Trey Lance with the arm. He doesn’t have any of that stuff. But he’s smart, he’s a process-oriented guy and this system is not asking those kinds of things from Mac Jones.”
Jones has taken a step back after a Pro Bowl rookie season. In 2022, Jones has only thrown for 2,550 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions per Pro Football Reference.
The former NFL GM agrees that Jones isn’t the same quarterback that he was in his rookie season.
“I do think that Mac Jones has devolved from where he was a year ago, a lot because of this offense and the ‘Keystone Cops’ that it’s been,” Mueller said.
The New England Patriots Need to Change
While Jones deserves blame for his performance, he hasn’t exactly been set up to succeed. After the departure of Josh McDaniels, Bill Belichick has replaced the massive coaching loss with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.
Mueller believes the Patriots need to make changes or else Jones will continue to struggle.
“I think they’re going to have to have changes in the system, otherwise Mac Jones has no chance,” the former GM said. “And I’m not sure anybody does if we’re going to run this type of setup and be this disorganized. … When I watch tape, it makes me shake my head and I just can’t believe we’re actually doing this, and I’m tired of the excuses. Sometimes we’ve just got to say what we see.
“It’s so un-Belichick-like that it makes me shake my head,” he added.
New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick Also Might Need to Change
Part of these changes might include Belichick himself. Ex-Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy talked about the legendary head coach’s relationship skills when appearing on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I would say the biggest difference between Bill and Staley is relationships,” Van Noy said. “(Staley) has relationships with every single player on the team. It’s really impressive how he can work a room. He’s got everybody’s number in (his) favorites. He can call them right then and there. And any player, he reaches out. I respect that. In this new age of players, you’ve gotta do that. And he’s done a great job of that.”
Van Noy went on to state that it wasn’t a criticism of Belichick but the linebacker noted that some players do have bad relationships with Belichick.
“And I’m not saying Bill — I have a great relationship with Bill. But not everybody does,” Van Noy stated. “So, I would say that’s the biggest difference, is the relationship base Staley forms versus Bill.”
Belichick’s relationship skills have been called into question before. As Tom Brady’s Patriots career neared its end, rumors arose of the two having some disagreements. Amidst Jones’ struggles rumors arose of a souring relationship as well.