The Patriots’ unwillingness to stand up for free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is reminiscent of a press release issued at Gillette Stadium in January.
“The New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick have entered into talks to extend Jerod Mayo’s contract to keep him on the team long-term,” it began.
For today’s discussion, however, the next sentence is important:
“In addition, the team will begin interviewing offensive coordinator candidates beginning next week.”
Translation: The New England Patriots are determined to do everything in their power to make quarterback Mac Jones the quarterback many people believe he can be.
To the right?
The team’s well-known Flying Elvis logo appears at the top of the release, while etchings of six Lombardi trophies stand guard in the background. Below and left is the publication date: January 12, 2023, four days after the Patriots ended their 2022 season with a 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, NY. Think about it. Just four days after their sometimes promising but all too often clowned season ended 8-9, the Patriots did so much more than announce they were returning to the board.
What they actually did was announce that someone went to the blackboard and in big, tall, chalk-breaking letters wrote the words, “We need a real offensive coordinator for Mac Jones.”
Managerial debt is a rare commodity at 1 Patriot Place, unless you count the number of times Belichick has hit the play button on his golden oldie to get better at all stages of the game, stages consisting of Offense, Defense, Special Teams… and Coaching. However, this was different. The press release didn’t blame Belichick for the blame, a mark of respect given his status as one of the greatest coaches of all time, which, for the record, he certainly is. But it was Belichick who thought last season it would be a great idea to put offensive remote control in the hands of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, two men with very little experience this side of the ball. And it was a disaster.
The Patriots’ cleanup of this disaster was to hire Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator. It’s looking brilliant on paper, given O’Brien’s offensive experience and familiarity with Belichick from his five seasons with the Patriots, including stints as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that O’Brien is returning to Foxboro after two seasons as offensive coordinator at Alabama.
Jones and O’Brien did not overlap in Tuscaloosa. Also, Jones is from Jacksonville, Fla., and O’Brien grew up in Andover and attended St. John’s Prep, the same school that produced Pat Connaughton (basketball), Mike Yastrzemski (baseball) and Bobby Carpenter (hockey). But Jones and O’Brien both speak a little bama, and that was probably an instant icebreaker.
GO DEEPER
Are the Patriots wide receivers good enough without DeAndre Hopkins?
Hopkins’ signing could and should have been the next big step in putting Mac Jones in the best possible position to win in 2023. Now you might think that Hopkins wasn’t the right man, that he’s too old at 31, and that he’s been fined for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy, but here’s the thing: The Patriots thought he was the right man . They courted him. They showed him the snazzy new video scoreboard and lighthouse observation deck being built at Gillette Stadium.
What they didn’t show him was the money. Hopkins signed with the Tennessee Titans because the deal, reportedly $26 million for two years, was better than what New England was offering.
Mac Jones isn’t “broke,” although that’s now a well-known storyline. It’s a glorious maybe, meaning raw material is there. There’s intelligence in there. There’s ambition there. If you believe any of this, it’s likely that Hopkins would have helped take Jones to another level.
Mac Jones (10) will work with a receiving corps of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton and DeVante Parker as the Patriots prepare to begin training camp. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
The Pats have signed JuJu Smith-Schuster as a replacement for the late Jakobi Meyers. Among the returnees is Tyquan Thornton, who showed a stunning and quick presence during his rookie training camp last year but couldn’t keep up at the start of the season. Also, DeVante Parker could be something he wasn’t last year, which is a presence.
And then there’s Hopkins. Except, oh no, he’s going to Nashville.
The problem with grading Mac Jones 2022 and predicting Mac Jones 2023 is that you have to dig through 500 feet of dirt that doesn’t have much to do with real football. As in:
• Jones was criticized last year for showing too much pain after suffering a serious sprained ankle.
• He has been criticized for his pitchside tantrums.
• It was said that he too often sought advice from old Bama people late at night.
• Now he’s too close to Robert Kraft, or at least closer than Belichick is to the Patriots owner.
All these criticisms that don’t really relate to football can be wiped away in four sentences. Let’s go to the blitz round:
• It is foolish to measure another person’s pain threshold while sitting on the couch.
• Saint Tom Brady holds the franchise record for side seizures.
• It’s estimated that 99 percent of NFL players will occasionally call “Dear Ol’ State U” when they need a pep talk or a cell phone hug.
• History has shown that NFL team owners would rather pose for photos with the dreamy quarterback than the wrinkled coach.
Whatever your personal assessment so far, intellectual curiosity should prompt you to see what Jones can do as a fully armed and operational battle station.
The Patriots believed the Hopkins Jones acquisition could lead in that direction.
And then they saw the price tag.
(Top photo by Mac Jones: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)