Patriots HC Dismisses Drake Maye-Mac Jones Comparisons

New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo spoke on the potential parallels between Drake Maye and Mac Jones.

Jerod Mayo and the Patriots made the decision to appoint Drake Maye as QB1 before Week 6. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper) / Greg M. Cooper-Associated Press

The New England Patriots will be facing an old friend this Sunday, as they will be battling Mac Jones and the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Of course, Jones is not starting for the Jaguars. That title belongs to Trevor Lawrence. However, Jones' mere presence on the roster immediately conjures up memories of his disastrous three-year run in Foxborough.

The Patriots now have a new young quarterback of their own in Drake Maye, and naturally, some have wondered if Maye will suffer the same fate as Jones in New England.

However, Pats head coach Jerod Mayo immediately dismissed those concerns by saying the parallel never even crossed his mind.

"I didn't really think about it that way," Mayo said, via Sean T. McGuire of NESN. "I think every situation with a first-year quarterback is its own unique situation."

That may be true, but it's hard to ignore that a lot of the same issues persist.

Jones played behind a miserable Patriots offensive line and also had very limited weapons at his disposal, which is the same situation that Maye has entered.

Now, to be fair, Maye's physical tools seem to far exceed Jones', so it's entirely possible that Maye will experience considerably more success for that reason alone.

Still, the fact that there was so much trepidation around inserting Maye as the starter may be evidence that New England was still a bit gunshy because of the Jones experiment.

It should be noted that Mayo and new Pats executive Eliot Wolf did not draft Jones. That was the work of Bill Belichick, so this is a different regime. However, it seems difficult to imagine that the thought of Jones did not enter their minds throughout this process.

Maye will make his second start of the season this weekend.

Make sure you bookmark New England Patriots on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

• Patriots Making Big Changes for Week 7
• Patriots: Tom Brady's First Raiders Move is Bill Belichick?
• Patriots Should Take Chance on Chiefs WR
• Patriots, Chargers Linked as Trade Partners
• Jerod Mayo Takes Brutal Shot at Patriots Defense