Patriots Captain on Mac Jones: ‘All the Tools to Succeed’

New England Patriots captain David Andrews is confident that he and his teammates … especially quarterback Mac Jones … can turn things around in 2023.

FOXBORO — Count New England Patriots captain David Andrews among those hoping the Pats put their recent string of subpar seasons behind them. 

Following an 8-9 finish last season, a campaign in which New England missed the playoffs for the second time in three years, Andrews appears confident that the Patriots have the proper pieces in place to rekindle their winning ways. 

Those ‘pieces’ include starting quarterback Mac Jones.  

"Mac’s growing more confident as he grows older,” Andrews told reporters on Tuesday. “He’s getting more comfortable in the system, getting comfortable with what we're doing. I think Mac has all the tools to succeed.''

Though he entered 2022 on the heels of an impressive rookie campaign, Jones struggled to recapture his previous success. Ultimately, he finished the season with 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Still, Andrews has noticed Jones’ resolve to improve. Throughout New England’s offseason workout program, the Pats quarteback wasted little time in demonstrating his progress. During mandatory minicamp practice sessions, Jones demonstrated accuracy, command and added strength on nearly all of his throws. Through it all, Jones is beginning to develop a solid working relationship with new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, while being given greater responsibility to command the offense at the line of scrimmage. As his primary protector, Andrews has a front-row seat for Jones’ continued development. 

Still, the 31-year-old recognizes that improvement from Jones alone will not be enough to carry the Patriots back to prominence. In short, it will take teamwork.

“It's not just one guy,” Andrews added. “Everybody [needs to be] on the same page, all 11 guys... It's why [football] is the greatest team game."

Unfortunately, the Patriots team dynamic on offense suffered greatly last season under the direction of former coach Matt Patricia — especially along the offensive line. The unit was routinely plagued by injury and inconsistent play. As a result, the o-line regressed to a subpar level in both pass protection and run blocking.

Under new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, as well as O’Brien, the Patriots will experience both new beginnings and challenges as they navigate their preparations for the upcoming season.

"There's always a learning curve to some extent. There's some things that are similar to things I've done in the past." It's nice to see the way he [Klemm] sees the game and the way he believes in doing things

Accordingly, Andrews’ teammates will listen to his voice, and follow his example. He has won two Super Bowls with the franchise and is a six-time team captain. Whether it be on the field, or in the locker room, Andrews leads by example and plays his role as assigned to the best of his ability. He is also one of the Pats’ most durable players. Save for missing the entirety of 2019 due to the discovery of blood clots in his lungs, Andrews has missed just 11 games in seven years.

However, Andrews’ most indelible mark on the only franchise for which he has played is made by the leadership and perseverance he embodies each and every day. As one of the last links to the New England glory days of the Brady-Belichick dynasty, he is well aware that hard work is the key to reversing New England’s recent woes. 

"It's not good enough,” Andrews said of the Pats output. “We know that. There's guys here that have won championships and know what that looks like.

"We're competitive. You don't want to be here watching people win. ... At the end of the day, you play to win. Winning is fun."

New England will start out on their hopeful path to redemption by taking the field for their first training camp practice at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Gillette Stadium. 

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots

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