Mac Jones’ QB coach wanted him to ask for a trade from Patriots after his rookie season

“I felt like, ‘Hey, if you really want this guy to work, you're going to get some guys around him.'"

Mac Jones might have played his last game for the Patriots in 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

January 29, 2024

4 minutes to read

It remains to be seen if Mac Jones will play another snap for the Patriots.

Once a promising rookie who earned a Pro Bowl nod and inspired hope for a Foxborough fandom looking for good news in the post-Brady era, Jones’ rapid decline has further plunged the Patriots into the bottom of the standings.

But if his longtime quarterbacks coach Joe Dickinson had his way, Jones would have asked out of Foxborough right after that first season in New England.

Dickinson, who has known Jones for over 11 years, spoke with NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran in a long-ranging story on the Patriots QB Monday. Dickinson offered his opinion on several subjects, including what led to Jones’ struggles in 2022 and 2023 and what’s next for the young signal-caller.

But one interesting nugget that Dickinson shared was that he told Jones to seek a trade out of New England after his 2021 season wrapped.

Why?

“After the first season, I saw that it was really good for Mac and I saw that his coach [Josh McDaniels] was leaving, and I advised Mac and his agent to go and ask for a trade… I just said, ‘Hey, I just think it would be better for you and the Patriots if they trade you,’” Dickinson told Curran. “I felt like, ‘Hey, if you really want this guy to work, you’re going to get some guys around him.

“You’re going to put the right guys around him helping him. And if you don’t, this is really easy, just trade him, get another guy, because that’s allowed and that’s within the rules.’”

As for Jones’ reaction to Dickinson’s request?

“Mac is Mac, for whatever reason. He grew up watching Tom Brady… and for whatever reason, he’s always been a New England Patriots fan and he wanted to be like Brady, (who) a lot of guys want to be like,” Dickinson said. “The good Lord made one Tom Brady. And I think Mac wanted to be that guy. Yeah. And still does.”

While Jones’ own lapses in execution eventually cost him his starting role in 2023, Dickinson’s warning to the QB did hold plenty of validity.

After McDaniels left the Patriots in 2021 to take over as the Raiders head coach, Jones struggled with two different offensive coordinators in the next two seasons.

With Matt Patricia — a longtime defensive coach — handed the job as the team’s de-facto OC in 2022, things quickly splintered. According to a report from MassLive’s Mark Daniels on Monday, Jones “showed resistance” over switching to a new offense, drawing the ire of Bill Belichick.

“I think he didn’t feel like he had anybody on the coaching staff that could help him to get him out of jams,” Dickinson told Curran of Jones’ mindset during the 2022 season. “I mean, there were guys learning on the job there. They’re great coaches, don’t get me wrong. Come on, man. Those guys are documented, good coaches. But they were both in the first year. They were coaching, being an offensive coordinator and being a quarterback coach.

“He didn’t feel like at that time he had a guy that could say, ‘Hey, I got your back here. I’m going to help you out of this situation that you’re in. I’m going to try [and] make you a better player.'”

Things only got worse in 2023, even with Bill O’Brien in place as the team’s OC. O’Brien should have been an improvement over Patricia, but a porous O-line, Jones’ own lapses, a dearth of playmakers and an icy relationship between head coach and QB led to disaster.

By Week 12 of the 2023 season, Belichick reportedly “stopped speaking” to Jones, opting to roll with backup Bailey Zappe over the final six games of the season.

“Well, there’s three sides to every story, right? His side, Mac’s side, the truth,” Dickinson said of Belichick’s dynamic with Jones this past year. “You know the truth is it probably contributed a little bit on everybody. Look, Bill had earned his stripes. He earned the right to say or do whatever you wanted to do knowing that it may or may not cost him his job.”

“But, you know, he’s an older guy,” Dickinson added of Belichick. “He’s (71) years old. I’m 67. I understand we don’t have patience a lot with younger guys. All those guys think they know it all. It’s a different world than we live in. Those guys have to earn their stripes.

“Sometimes I think we get too caught up into that. To make this work, we’ve got to bend a little as a coach, too, or I’ve got to contribute it. I’ve got to maybe put my arm around this guy a little bit at a time when I don’t want to. And when I don’t, then I’m part of the problem.”

Even with Belichick no longer running the show in Foxborough, Jones might have thrown his last ball in New England — especially if the team adds a blue-chip QB prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft.