QUARTERBACK MAC JONES
PRESS CONFERENCE
May 23, 2022
Q: So how is life post-Josh McDaniels? You guys obviously had a great relationship. How is life post-Josh?
MJ: Yeah, I think every season in football is a new season and people come and go, you get opportunities, players, coaches, support staff, so it comes with the business, and I was fortunate to have a lot of different coordinators throughout my college time kind of running a similar system. I just learned from that and take the good from people that gave me the good, take that with me and then just move on and try and grow with the new set of coaches we have. We have a great group of players and coaches and like I said it comes with the territory playing the sport and I'm happy for Josh and his family, and we're excited to open up the next chapter.
Q: What's your relationship like with Joe at this point?
MJ: Yeah, I think I got a chance to see him last year in training camp practices and all that and he's done a great job coaching us -- he's seen a lot of football, obviously he's been around football for a long time, whether that be as a head coach, special teams, playing the position himself. So he has knowledge that is very beneficial to me as a quarterback and obviously I'm going to learn with him, that's the goal, is to kind of teach each other and move along and take what he knows and then take the experiences that I have and combine them and work together as a great team. Obviously, we have him and Hoyer and Bailey, so we have a great group of guys that can come together and work together in that room.
Q: It seems like BB was working more with the offensive today -- what's that been like?
MJ: Obviously he's a great defensive mind, but he also has great offensive knowledge, they're all helping out and making things really easy for us and just teaching us what they know. It's been really good just to be able to stand up in the meetings and talk through things with everybody, and everyone's on the same page, regardless of who's talking or who's saying what. We have a very good group of guys. I think it's obviously always about the players and having great coaches is obviously very beneficial too. But we have a great group of guys -- old guys, young guys, and we're excited to come together and work.
Q: Mac, what changes have you made physically this offseason? What are your highlights?
MJ: Yeah, I think every year you want to do like a self-diagnosis of how you felt for the games, your body fat and all that stuff. For me, it was just cleaning up my diet and I've learned more this offseason than I probably ever have about nutrition, sleep, wellness, all that stuff. I'm kind of taking what I've learned that I feel will help me, and apply it, and obviously listening to Ted and everybody, just following their plan, eating healthy, taking out a lot of the things that are bad for my diet but, at the same time, I need to maintain my weight and be able to take hits, so there's a fine balance for every player, every player's different and for me I've definitely trimmed down on the body fat a little bit and I'll get a chance to bulk back up before the season starts and be able to absorb the hits.
Q: ..differences on the field? stamina..
MJ: Yeah, I think that's something I worked on a lot was just my knowledge of quarterback mechanics and stuff. Obviously a lot of it, you know, goes into training your arm the right way and learning about that. I have good knowledge on that but you can never have too much knowledge. A lot of it's just training my arm a certain way, recovery, all that stuff. My body feels good. There's nothing lingering or any bad injuries or anything so, I'm blessed with that and, like you said, everything stays the same. I feel a lot better, just trying to work and be the best quarterback I can be right now. Because we're not going against anybody besides our defense, and it's important to focus on yourself a little bit and also be a great teammate. So those two things.
Q: Mac, it looked like you were talking to Joe before certain plays, and Matt before certain plays, and Bill before certain plays -- is there a point in time at which you guys would like to have that operation streamlined so that you're ready to go early season?
MJ: I think right now it's all about learning -- first day, you come out and you set a baseline, fix the things that you want to fix, and like I said, they all have a great knowledge of our offense and we're all on the same page so that's the important part to me. There's no fall-off or anything like that. It's not my decision to make and we have plenty of time for all that, so right now it's about the guys and I getting on the same page, running backs, tight ends, receivers, and then working with the offensive line, doing some things with them just to make sure we're on the same page. So, it always goes back to the players and we're excited to grow together and learn from whoever's coaching us. We don't mind anybody.
Q: Mac, it looked like you were working on your deep ball there towards the end of practice?
MJ: Yeah, I worked on throwing the ball. I think deep, short, intermediate, doesn't really matter. There's ways to improve. Looking back in college and things like that, things I did well or whatever but it all comes back to just fine-tuning each throw, whether it's short, intermediate, or long, you want to be able to do all of them all the time. I tried to throw in the offseason in all conditions and increase my knowledge on that, and just go out there and get a feel for it and understand the wind, the rain, snow, whatever it may be. So I'm ready to go and it's a learning experience – being the quarterback here, you have to be able to play in those elements, you have to be able to complete passes in those elements. So, I challenge myself with that and everyday there's a new challenge.
Q: Mac, you mentioned Bailey earlier, what was your reaction when the Patriots took a quarterback and what's it been like getting to know him and work with him?
MJ: Yeah, we have a great group of rookies. It made me look back at a year ago and realize how thankful I am to be here, in a great organization. And obviously we have great players from that rookie class, they've come in and worked hard. You can see them out there trying to win the sprints and doing all that stuff. We had a good group and I'm happy to have Bailey, obviously he had a great college career and provides good knowledge from his experience, and I'll always be able to help him and mentor him in any way I can. I was fortunate to learn from Hoyer last year as a rookie and hopefully me and Hoyer can help Bailey out in any way possible and help him develop to where he feels like he's a better quarterback. We have a great group right now and I'm really excited to work with those guys and our coaches.
Q: Mac, I saw you on social media with Tom House a little bit and I'm just curious about if you're working with him this offseason, and if so what was that like?
MJ: Yeah, I got a chance to work with a lot of different people. It was a good experience for me, like I said, any throws – short, intermediate, or long, you want to get better at, you want to have people that have knowledge of the game. He did a great job helping me there. Obviously, I've worked with the people I've worked with since I was very young but at the end of the day you're out there by yourself. You're the quarterback, and that's what you want to be able to do is go out there and feel comfortable doing what you want to do and continue to grow.
Q: Joe Dickinson, what role has he played in your life?
MJ: Yeah, I don't know if he's more like a dad or a brother, but he's just someone I've always leaned on, just for advice, and he's obviously coached at a very high level whether that be at Oklahoma as offensive coordinator, wherever. But he's helped me since I was eight years old and we're more friends, it's a friend relationship and we'll always be best buds, so I appreciate him and obviously the group of coaches we have here. I lean on them, and learn from them so, I'm a sponge, I like to take the knowledge from people who have done it, people that have played the position, and learn as much as I can while I'm still developing.
Q: What's the difference between the end of last year and at this point in the offseason?
MJ: Yeah, in terms of team chemistry, I think we've made leaps and bounds there. As a rookie you come in, you're kind of thrown in and everything —all the plates are hot, you know? So you kind of just try and find your feet. But now this past offseason and right now we've just built a great relationship with the offensive line, the receivers, hanging out together, just doing things together off the field because at the end of the day, we're all friends, we work together, we want to play for one another, and that's important to me. That's why football is the best team sport, you can take a guy like Kendrick who brings energy every day, and then we have him over for a Hibachi party or something, so it's just fun. Like, we always hang out and have fun and talk the talk and all that and it just builds for Sundays.
Q: What do you think of the group of receivers you have?
MJ: Yeah, I'm really happy with the group we have. I got a chance to work with all of them in the offseason at various locations, here and all that, so I've been very pleased with everybody. They have a tight group once again. DeVante's done a great job coming in, working in a new system, there's some familiarity, you know, with the Dolphins and all that, but we're happy to have him and anybody that can contribute to our team. We're ready to go, so it's a good group and we just have to keep elevating each other and push each other and compete.
