A full year before Mac Jones began working with Joe Judge, the New England Patriots quarterback impressed his new assistant coach.
Jones and Judge shared the same practice field during training camp in 2021. They were both in very different spots in their career. Jones, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft, was in a position battle with quarterback Cam Newton, which the rookie would eventually win. Judge, meanwhile, was in his second season coaching New York, a job he would eventually lose.
It appears they’ll be working together every day, with Judge working with the quarterbacks in 2022 as a Patriots coaching assistant. And it sounds like Judge is looking forward to the opportunity after getting a glimpse of Jones’ impressive qualities during that joint practice last year.
“I like the way he handled the command of the huddle and the team last year when we practiced against him,” Judge said Monday during a videoconference call. “That was the thing that stood out to me — not the completion, incompletions. Just really seeing him interact. I was standing behind both huddles and really watching him put it together so I had the opportunity to listen to both huddles. You can hear the command, you could see players’ eyes on him. That’s something that really stood out to me as I walked off the field: ‘OK, they’re going to be alright with this young guy.'”
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With the Patriots in their voluntary offseason program, Judge said he hasn’t had much opportunity to work with Jones on the field, but Judge remembered his takeaways from the quarterback’s college film. Judge said he ended up watching a lot of Jones’ film amid his studies of the other SEC prospects that Jones played with and against. What stood out?
“The accuracy, the presence in the pocket, the decision-making and that nature,” Judge said.
Jones was as steady as a rookie can be in his first season. He mitigated risks, which avoided rookie mistakes — but also limited big plays. With New England likely trying to get more out of its passing attack in 2022, Judge and the rest of the Patriots coaching staff will need to focus on developing Jones into a quarterback with even more command of the offense.
