Jaguars Teammate Defends Mac Jones After Rocky Patriots Tenure
It’s no secret that Mac Jones experienced a turbulent three seasons with the New England Patriots.
Jones’ on-field outbursts, inadequate play and rumors of animosity between him and the Bill Belichick-led coaching staffing littered his time with the Patriots. It ultimately led to New England trading Jones this past offseason to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick.
Jones will see the Patriots for the first time since being traded with New England and Jacksonville meeting in London on Sunday. With all that happened during Jones’ stay with New England, the matchup gives the 26-year-old a chance to get a dose of revenge — he’s not expected to be play unless starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffers an injury.
While getting back at the Patriots might be on Jones’ mind, his Jaguars teammates haven’t seen him outwardly show it.
“I think for him it’s kind of one of those games where things in New England didn’t go exactly how he wanted,” Jaguars defensive end Joe Gaziano told NESN.com. “Some situations aren’t always right but I think for him, he’s just approaching this as another game and he’s definitely studying film the way he always studies because he’s just such an even-keeled guy and approaches and plays football the right way.”
Jones, like how Drake Maye is viewed now, was seen as New England’s next franchise quarterback when it selected the Alabama product 15th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. But after a promising rookie season in which he helped the Patriots to the playoffs and made the Pro Bowl, everything went up in flames.
It wasn’t entirely his fault, either. Belichick stunted Jones’ development by turning the offense over to Matt Patricia during the 2022 season and Jones never recovered. He went 2-9 last season with the Patriots and spent the final six games watching from the bench.
Patriots fans hold plenty of disdain for Jones for the way things played out. But Gaziano, who is a Scituate, Mass. native and first met Jones during offseason workouts in the Boston area, believes the perception of Jones isn’t reality.
“I think it’s easy to be on the outside and point in and kind of judge a player who’s in a helmet,” Gaziano said. “You get to know the guy off the field and you realize how much of a good, wholehearted person he is. You can tell he loves the game of football. And like I said, he just approaches it the right way.
“You can’t point a season or two on one player. There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that the average fan isn’t aware of. I think whatever he was doing in New England, I wasn’t exactly in those meetings. But I think the way he approaches the game is very professional and he’s got a great work ethic to him.”
The change of scenery appears to have done Jones some good. He excelled with the Jaguars in the preseason to win the battle for the backup quarterback spot. He did show signs of what Patriots fans saw over the years in his Jaguars debut when he got stripped-sacked.
Gaziano, who was elevated from the practice squad to the active roster for the game against the Patriots, got to know Jones better now that the two are teammates. And Gaziano continues to be impressed by Jones, both on and off the field.
“He’s a fierce competitor, but he’s also a guy who you want to be around in the locker room just because of the way that he carries himself and doesn’t take himself too seriously and he loves to be a friendly face in the locker room,” Gaziano said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of difference between Mac on a good day or a bad day. He’s very even-keeled. I admire that about him.”