It’s been ugly for the New England Patriots through the first month of the season.
The Pats are coming off an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Mac Jones is clearly struggling to lead the offense. The former first-round pick was benched for Bailey Zappe on Sunday once the game was out of hand and it had people wondering who to blame.
Former NFL QB Robert Griffin III had an idea on Tuesday’s “Get Up” on ESPN:
Mac Jones is not a creator, but they’re asking him to create. So that starts with the scheme. When you look at what he did in 2021, had the No. 6 offense in the NFL. Who was his coordinator? Josh McDaniels. One of the best OCs we’ve ever seen in this league. Now you move forward to this year, and they have one of the worst offenses in the league. … For me, this comes down to coaching.
Adding:
In Year 2, Bill Belichick messed up his young quarterback. When you give him a defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator as his offensive coordinator and now he’s on his third coordinator in three years in the NFL, that is, to me, the epitome of coaching malpractice. And Bill Belichick’s one of the greatest coaches we’ve ever seen. He’s arguably the greatest coach of all time in NFL history, but he really overthought this, and its hurt Mac Jones permanently in my opinion.
Belichick brought in Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien this offseason in attempt to do right by Jones but there have been reports of a rift between Jones and the coaching staff dating back to last year.
Either way, the Patriots are 1-3 over the first four weeks with a game against a tough Saints defense on Sunday.