Mac At Home: Patriots QB Mac Jones to Spend Offseason in New England Preparing for ‘22
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For nearly all NFL fans, the upcoming season seems so far away. However, for New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, 2022 is already here.
As the 23-year-old prepares to enter his second season at the helm of the Patriots’ offense, it appears that he will do so in the surrounding areas of Foxboro, Massachusetts.
In a recent one-on-one interview with Patriots.com during Super Bowl LVI week, Jones spoke about his first offseason as an NFL quarterback. Coincidentally, it also happens to be Jones’ first true offseason in quite some time.
Since 2020, the Alabama product has immersed himself in football, most notably in football preparation. In his senior season, Jones started 13 games for the Crimson Tide, leading the team to a National Championship. Almost immediately following Alabama’s victory, he began preparing for the NFL Draft, attending the 2021 Senior Bowl just weeks after winning the national title. His efforts caught the eye of head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots brain trust, who drafted Jones with the 15th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. A full offseason slate of organized team activities, training camp practices and preseason games gave way to his earning the starting position from incumbent Cam Newton. Jones went on to start all 17 regular-season games for New England, as well as their lone playoff matchup with the Buffalo Bills on January 15.
Frankly, it sounds exhausting just thinking about it.
Jones would agree, as he enjoys some well-deserved rest for the first time in nearly two years.
“I think that’s the fun part about everything in the offseason,” Jones said during the interview. “You get a second just to catch your breath and figure everything out. This has definitely been the longest year. It’s been almost two years of football. I love football and I love to keep going as best I can, but it’s always good to step away and evaluate what you can get better at, too.”
Still, Jones realizes that there is much work to be done for the upcoming season. With an appearance in the 2022 Pro Bowl, as well as a brief media tour during Super Bowl week under his belt, he is ready to return to the grind. The Pats’ QB is intent on increasing his strength and improving his diet, in hopes of avoiding the dreaded ‘one-hit-wonder’ moniker. Most importantly, he is hoping that his experience will allow him to take on a greater leadership role with the team in 2022. This is an example he learned to set during his time as quarterback of the Crimson Tide.
“I think back to my freshman year at Alabama,” Jones said. “You’re kind of figuring everything out. And then you get older, and you’re just more experienced with everything — the media, the games, everything.”
Following the decision to release Newton at the conclusion of training camp, Jones performed well at the helm for the Patriots in his rookie season. The 23-year-old led all rookies with a 67.6 completion percentage and a 92.5 passer rating, while compiling 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns. He completed at least 70 percent of his attempts in nine games and twice threw for 300-plus yards through the air. Jones was the centerpiece of a rookie class, which was chosen as the best in the NFL this past year by Pro Football Focus. The Alabama product was also selected to the PFWA's All-Rookie team along with teammate Christian Barmore.
Down the stretch, Jones clearly had his struggles. He was less accurate, made more rookie mistakes and had difficulty when defenses were able to adjust to take away his preferred routes and targets. As recently outlined by NESN’s Zack Cox, Jones’ completion rate dropped by nearly 10 points, his passer rating dropped by nearly 20 points, his turnovers spiked, and New England lost four of its final five games following the Patriots’ Week Fourteen bye
However, Jones regularly maintained his poise, his focus, and his drive to constantly improve. Those qualities will continue to make him the ideal steward of New England’s timing-based passing game, predicated on vertical routes and completions from quick, accurate throws. Overall, his performance in 2021 has provided palpable hope of a bright future for New England at the quarterback position.
With the start of the 2022 season still months away, Jones realizes that the work to build upon a promising performance in 2021 must begin immediately. As such, he will remain close to his home base throughout the offseason.
“I want to be back close to home in New England in the offseason, because we obviously have our place there, and just figure out ways to become a better quarterback,” Jones said. “And then do whatever we can to put more points up on the board so we can win more games.”
Though it may be the offseason for some, Mac Jones clearly believes that the real story of his 2022 season has only just begun.
