Patriots' Mac Jones reportedly 'very' excited to work with OC Bill O'Brien

Mark Daniels of MassLive has reported that New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is "very" excited to be coached by new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.

Head coach Bill Belichick reportedly brought O'Brien back to the organization after the experiment of having Jones work with assistant coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge produced woeful results. It also left the 24-year-old visibly upset on multiple occasions during the 2022 NFL season. Under O’Brien, Jones will feature for somebody who called offensive plays for New England from 2009 through the 2011 campaign. 

A source told Daniels that Jones "is looking forward to working with coach O’Brien," in part because the Patriots and Alabama Crimson Tide "have a similar culture and offensive approach." 

O'Brien served as the offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama for the previous two seasons, while Jones played his college ball at the Southeastern Conference university. 

The same source remarked to Daniels that it will be good for Jones "to start a new working relationship with someone that you already have had the opportunity to work with." 

O’Brien and Jones spent some time together at Alabama before New England selected the signal-caller in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. 

The 2022 edition of the Patriots went 8-9 and missed the playoffs, in part due to Jones' lackluster play. According to ESPN, Jones finished his sophomore pro season 28th out of 31 eligible players with a 36.1 total QBR. In 14 games, he tossed 14 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. 

As Dakota Randall mentioned for NESN, Patriots insider Chris Gasper of The Boston Globe teased ahead of this past weekend that New England landing O'Brien could be an attempt to lure Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady back. Brady can hit free agency when the new league year opens in March and has been linked with a potential return to the Patriots since the fall. 

For now, though, Jones will be hoping he's the quarterback who will get the most out of O'Brien's hiring over at least the next 12 months.