Patriots Mac Jones & Raiders Josh McDaniels: Separately Struggling

Neither New England's quarterback nor Las Vegas' head coach are excelling without the other this season.

Could be heavy doses of FOMO Sunday in Las Vegas.  And not just between two teams on the verge of missing the NFL Playoffs.

For New England Patriots' quarterback Mac Jones, it's the "fear of missing out" on being coached by former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. For McDaniels - now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders - it's a little FOMO on no longer being involved in a winning culture again at the doorstep of the postseason.

A year ago, McDaniels coached Jones into a splendid rookie season. He was the league's best rookie quarterback, throwing for 3,800 yards, 22 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions in leading the Pats to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth.

But now separated by McDaniels' departure, both are struggling.

Picked to be a contender in the AFC West, the Raiders are 5-8 and already looking toward 2023. Jones, meanwhile, has endured a tortuous season without his quarterback guru. He's suffered through an ankle injury, popular rookie Bailey Zappe looking over his shoulder and emotional outbursts and frustration at the play-calling of Matt Patricia.

Though the 7-6 Patriots are currently a Wild Card team, Jones has visibly regressed in mechanics, decision-making and production. We're in mid-December and he has thrown more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven).

Before the season NBC looked to this game as an intriguing matchup between McDaniels and Jones, and also McDaniels and his former boss, Bill Belichick. But it's now been flexed out of prime time, leaving New England's reunions and desperate playoff push for the 4 p.m. window.

“Josh is a great coach,” Jones said this week on WEEI’s Merloni, Fauria, and Mego. “Pushed me really hard and coached me hard. We worked together and we were with each other every day and working hard. He expects a lot out of his players and he’s a smart, smart guy. He’s got great memory, great recall. He remembers things from certain games and all that stuff. Definitely a great coach and looking forward to going against him this weekend.”

McDaniels has matched up against Belichick and the Patriots before, when he coached the Denver Broncos in 2009. In that meeting - a Broncos' overtime win - the Patriots managed just 17 points. While the Patriots underwent a ‘streamline’ process to their offensive system after McDaniels’ departure, the long-time coordinator surely still knows how New England's tendencies.

"Obviously he’s familiar with me and a little bit of our system and all that stuff," Jones said. "At the end of the day, they have good players and good coaches, and we have good players and good coaches. It all comes down to execution.”

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