Mac Jones 'F-Bombs' Matt Patricia? 'No Problems with Matty P!' Says Patriots QB of Coach
Confusion about who is running the New England Patriots offense? Maybe.
Confusion about the relationship between two key figures in the middle of that offense? Mac Jones would like to clear that up.
"I talk to Matty P. every day,'' ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters said on the "Monday Night Football'' telecast, part of a game that the Patriots eventually won, 23-17, at Arizona. "Sometimes it’s at 4 in the morning. Sometimes it’s 8 at night.
"I have no problem with Matty P.''
Jones' sideline emotion has sometimes overflowed. It happened in a 33-26 loss to Minnesota in Week 13, as the second-year QB appeared to be questioning the play-calling, which is overseen by Patricia despite his defensive background as a coach.
And it popped up again during the Week 14 “Monday Night Football” game between the Patriots and Cardinals, when it didn't take an expert lip-reader to understand Jones' viewpoint on what was not working at the moment.
(NSFW audio below ...)
Salters' report did not sugarcoat the fact that there have been some ups and downs in the QB's relationship with Patricia, who is in his first season as New England’s offensive coordinator, with boss Bill Belichick opting to not hire an experienced offensive coordinator to replace Josh McDaniels, who is now the head coach in Las Vegas.
Salters said Jones acknowledged that "there have definitely been growing pains this year.'' But she quoted the QB as saying, "Now it feels like a good time to turn the corner.'”
And how did Jones explain his assortment of in-game F-bombs?
“This is an emotional game,” Jones told Salters. “And I think everybody feeds off emotion. I think at times, we’re too flat, and that’s what I try to do: motivate my guys. They responded really well — the defense, everybody. So, shout-out to everybody on our team for responding and we gotta get to work.''
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