​Former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has opened up about the stunning collapse of the 2022 season, offering a candid reflection on the events that followed his promising rookie year. After a debut campaign that had Patriots fans hopeful, Jones described how expectations swung dramatically. In his first NFL season out of college, he earned a Pro Bowl nod and posted solid numbers, finishing with 3,801 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. It seemed like the team was still competitive in the AFC East and deserved more time to build on that foundation.
But the 2022 campaign quickly devolved on the offensive side. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels departed the Patriots to pursue a head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, and head coach Bill Belichick faced the challenge of replacing him. Jones recalled that Belichick even considered taking on offensive play-calling himself, but ultimately entrusted the duties to longtime defensive coach Matt Patricia. The move is widely regarded as one of the missteps in franchise history, and Jones acknowledged how the personnel changes hindered his development.
“I get it,” Jones said on Bussin’ With The Boys. “Josh McDaniels obviously coached us and earned another chance to be a head coach again, and good for him, but I think that really affected me because I felt like if I could have built on the year before, it would have really helped me and everybody on the team.” He added that there was a period when Belichick wanted to take over play-calling, which initially felt intriguing. “At first Bill was going to call the plays, which I was like, ‘Alright, this is kind of fun. Let’s see how this goes.’ And he’s obviously a great defensive guy, so I was like, ‘Alright, if Bill wants to take it over, good for him. He has six Super Bowls. He can do whatever he wants.’”
The 2022 season ended with an 8-9 record for the Patriots, and Jones’s performance dipped across the board. More importantly, his confidence took a hit as the offense struggled to develop him, contributing to the decision to bench him in favor of Bailey Zappe and eventually leading to his trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars. While the rapid unraveling surprised many, Jones said he sensed a potential downturn as early as spring OTAs before the season even began. “I just felt like we didn’t click early in OTAs,” he explained. “You could kind of see it trending, and I was a second-year player, so I didn’t really say much or do much. Brian Hoyer was the backup, and he was kind of looking at me, trying to keep me in it. But we were kind of like, ‘This is not going to be good.’”
Jones’s remarks add another chapter to the ongoing dialogue about what went wrong in Foxboro in 2022 and how it affected a player who once seemed to be on the path to a long, productive tenure with the franchise. The Patriots Wire’s coverage continues to follow the implications of that season and the broader questions it raises about development, coaching decisions, and the trajectory of Jones’s career.