Mac Jones entered his second NFL season last year with high expectations, but neither he nor the New England Patriots lived up to them. The former Alabama star seems committed to making sure that does not happen again.
Jones has been working this offseason with former Texas Tech and NFL quarterback Nic Shimonek, who is now a well-regarded strength coach. Shimonek shared a series of videos on Instagram recently that showed Jones going through strength and agility exercises. He captioned the post, “The last few weeks of work … Mac10 LOCKED IN!”
Jones was among the people who commented on Shimonek’s post. The former Alabama star said he is determined to “RE EARN THE RESPECT thru work!!!!”
That seems like a clear acknowledgement from Jones that the perception of him changed quite a bit last year. His rookie season in 2021 was extremely promising, but things turned ugly last season. A lot of that had to do with Bill Belichick’s decision to hand control of the Patriots’ offense to former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. But even if the offensive scheme was a major issue, Jones did not handle the adversity well.
Now that Belichick has brought back Bill O’Brien, Jones will be expected to vastly improve upon the 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions he had last season. If he can’t re-earn the respect, as he said, his days in New England might be numbered.
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