Tom Brady got the New England Patriots used to winning. So, watching the team underperform while the rest of the NFL gets better isn’t an usual sight for their fans of the front office.
The Patriots enter the 2023 NFL season under a lot of pressure, and we mean from top to bottom. Not even Bill Belichick is safe, as team owner Robert Kraft was non-committal about his future if the team didn’t improve.
Fortunately for the veteran HC, Mac Jones seems determined to put the woes behind them. In a recent interview, the third-year QB vowed to earn everyone’s respect again next season.
Mac Jones Looking Forward To Regaining Everyone’s Respect
“I’m going to do everything I can to earn the respect of everybody in this building again,” the Alabama product told Mark Reiss of ESPN.
“Sometimes the most confident people come from a year where they might not have been their best. I feel like that’s where I’m at,” he added. “Really great people are formed through ups and downs. Some of the learning experiences I had last year will really help. There’s a lot of things I can do better as a person, as a player.”
Notably, some reports stated that Jones’ status as QB1 wasn’t certain, and even Belichick claimed that everyone — including Bailey Zappe — would get an opportunity to play.
Jones earned plenty of praise for his work ethic in year one, but he was evidently frustrated and threw some tantrums as things didn’t go his way last season. To be fair, he wasn’t put in a position to succeed with Matt Patricia calling the plays.
The Patriots brought back Bill O’Brien hoping to get better offensively next season, so it’ll be up to Jones to improve and show that he can be the guy they thought he’d be at this point in his development.