Former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has found success with the San Francisco 49ers. In the process, he’s flipped one narrative and strengthened another.
Jones orchestrated a truly impressive last-minute scoring drive that ended in a walkoff Week 3 win for the Niners. San Francisco is now 2-0 with Jones at the helm, and Sunday’s win — in which Jones displayed poise under pressure — certainly provided argument that he can’t win the close one.
“I really was just motivated to change the narrative,” he told reporters after the game.
Mac Jones’ 49ers Success Shows How Bad Patriots Dropped Ball
Perhaps he is on his way to doing just that, but the former Patriots first-round pick is adding evidence that he’s a system quarterback. While that can be viewed as a pejorative term, it also reinforces just how bad New England handled Jones’ first few years in the NFL.
The 49ers and Kyle Shanahan, who were linked to Jones in the leadup to the 2021 NFL Draft, brought him in to be Brock Purdy’s backup. After Purdy went down with toe and shoulder issues, Jones — whom the team signed in the offseason — was thrust into action.
The 49ers are 2-0 since, and although it’s a small sample size, Jones is playing the best football of his career. His 281.5 yards per game, 98.5 passer rating and 5% touchdown pass rate would all be the best of his career. His 66.3% completion percentage would be just shy of a career high, too.
Granted, Jones has done it against New Orleans (awful) and Arizona (maybe awful?) should be noted, but he’s done his job, as evidenced by orchestrating a 12-play, 58-yard drive in 106 seconds to get the Week 3 win.
Patriots’ Handling of Jones One of Low Points of Belichick Era
It’s another chance to point out just how poorly the Patriots handled his development in New England. Jones’ best season in Foxboro came as a rookie when he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and took the Patriots to the playoffs. From there, though, New England did nothing to surround the former No. 15 overall pick with talent or coaching.
Bill Belichick infamously turned over the offensive operation to Matt Patricia as play-caller and Joe Judge as quarterbacks coach, and Jones nosedived. Throwing to damaged goods and unproven youngsters, Jones was out of a job by the end of 2023 with Belichick yo-yo’ng between him and Bailey Zappe.
“I think this is one of Belichick’s massive mistakes, was just not hiring an offensive coordinator and QB coach who could treat Mac like a plant who needed to be watered and put in the son, and I don’t think they took care of the asset at all,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, a famously partisan Boston sports fan, said when the Jones run finally ended. ” … (It was) indefensible. I don’t know if they were trying to save money or if Belichick was afraid to bring somebody in, but it was just the absolute weirdest, strangest, most inexplicable thing he did as head coach.”
Ultimately, it wasn’t all on the operation, and Jones wasn’t perfect. A tough season in Jacksonville underscored the need for Jones to be in the right system, and Shanahan provides that. There’s certainly a better supporting cast, too, one that now features a familiar face in Kendrick Bourne, who was a favorite target of Jones in New England.
“I went out and executed the plays that were called and I had time to do it,” Jones said in a postgame interview on the FOX broadcast. “KB had some great catches, we kind of have a little chemistry. Really happy for the guys and what a great kick to finish.”
Bourne, by the way, had a pair of catches on the final drive, and showed the sort of awareness that was lacking in the Patriots’ loss to the Steelers.
Jones could have a chance at some revenge if Purdy can’t return for Week 4. The 49ers host Jacksonville, but as Jones said in his FOX interview, he’s just keeping the seat warm until Purdy can return.
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