Mac Jones Should 'Ask for Trade' from Patriots, Says ESPN's Dan Orlovsky

Patriots QB Mac Jones, insists ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, has reason to soon ask for a trade out of New England.

Is New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones suddenly in some sort of position of power?

That seems to be the view - skewed as it is - of ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, who is suggesting that if the second-year QB doesn't get what he wants, he should seek an exit from New England.

"If I was Mac Jones and his reps/team and this offseason there are no plans for a true/proven offensive coordinator to come into New England,'' Orlovsky wrote on Twitter in the wake of the Patriots' 24-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, "I would ask to be traded.''

"Throw the f-----g ball! F-----g quick game sucks! F--k!"

- Mac Jones during the Patriots' 24-10 loss on #TNFpic.twitter.com/LdojOW9alg

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 2, 2022

Our bullet-point reactions ...

*Mac Jones was a first-round pick in 2021, helped the team to a playoff berth and even made the Pro Bowl. He has an Alabama pedigree and he has promise. But ...

*Mac Jones, just a few weeks removed from being embroiled in a mini-QB controversy with fourth-round rookie Bailey Zappe - does not have the leverage to demand anything.

*Can public opinion change that? At this moment, Patriots fans - naturally spoiled by traditional success - don't seem especially enamored with coach Bill Belichick. But no, Mac Jones is not going to win a public pissing match with Bill Belichick.

*Is Orlovsky's point about the Patriots coordinator valid? Certainly. The Patriots "College of Coordinators'' approach is awkward at best, with Belichick, Joe Judge (with a special-teams background) and Matt Patricia (a defensive-minded coach) running the offense, seemingly with Patricia as the primary play-caller in this system. ...

And with Belichick all along being unnecessarily secretive about who's who.

It was a bad idea from the start ... now exposed as being even worse in practice.

*Is Orlovsky grandstanding here? Hard to tell. The former NFL backup QB has at times proven to be a keen analyst (especially when in the booth on college games) but at other times, in studio, demonstrates a belief that the fast track to riches is the Stephen A. Smith/Skip Bayless track.

So ... hard to tell.

*Is Jones' profanity-filled outburst, apparently directed at the Patriots coaching staff - "Throw the f**** ball! F**** quick game sucks! F***!" Jones barked on the sideline during the Bills game - impetus for change?

Maybe. But yelling "F***!'' fixes nothing. Spending the rest of this season trying to make the playoffs with a QB simmering about wanting out fixes nothing.

The "fix'' is in the hands of Bill Belichick, working with Mac Jones - and not working against one another - without silly secrecy or diva-esque demands.

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