Why Mac Jones didn't receive 'clean slate' under Patriots' Jerod Mayo

There's more information about why New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones didn't receive an advertised "clean slate" under new head coach Jerod Mayo ahead of being traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars via a transaction expected to occur shortly after the new league year begins this coming Wednesday. 

"On the Patriots' side, with Jerod Mayo just getting started, keeping Jones would’ve meant carrying the baggage of the past two years with him into 2024 (things got ugly in that quarterback room), which is why New England felt like a clean break would be best for everyone," Patriots and NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote for a piece published Monday. "For Jacksonville, Jones gives it a layer of affordable depth and, perhaps, a trade piece if there are injuries at quarterback this summer and fall like there were last year." 

Breer noted last month that the "quarterback room (Jones) was in the last two years got toxic, to the point where (2022 fourth-round draft pick) Bailey Zappe, as a rookie, sometimes watched tape in the receiver room." Greg A. Bedard of Boston Sports Journal reported in January that "everyone" within the New England locker room eventually grew "sick of" Jones after he allegedly acted "like a prima donna." 

Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick pulled Jones from games on four occasions during the 2023 season, and the 2021 first-round draft choice who earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie did not play across the club's final six contests of the campaign. Mayo nevertheless teased after he replaced Belichick in January that he could give Jones an opportunity to at least compete for the starting job this summer assuming the Patriots spend the third selection of the 2024 draft to acquire a rookie quarterback such as Drake Maye of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Jayden Daniels of the LSU Tigers or J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines.

"The Patriots told Mac Jones after the combine of their intention to trade him, and even asked the quarterback what he wanted to do," Breer added on Monday. "After working through that, and shopping him all week, New England found a suitor in the Jacksonville Jaguars. With a sixth-round pick in its back pocket, the Patriots fished around for a fifth Saturday, before finalizing the deal to send Jones to his hometown for the 192nd pick. The return, of course, isn’t great for a player picked 15th three years ago. But it’s reflective of the feeling that there just isn’t a ton of physical upside there in Jones." 

While Jones will receive a career reset this spring serving as a backup behind Jacksonville QB1 Trevor Lawrence, New England's 2023 Week 1 starter could be an injury away from possibly receiving an opportunity to resurrect his career later this year either with the Jaguars or a different organization.