Fresh start: Mac Jones having fun, enjoying the process with hometown Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s a humid and sticky Tuesday morning and Mac Jones is loose, smiling and just having fun.

That’s a big change for Jones, and he’s enjoying every moment of it.

For most of the past two years, it had been difficult for Jones, a former star at Bolles, to smile as his time in New England dragged on. There were benchings, plenty of negative headlines and the need for a fresh start.

That fresh start happens in Jacksonville.

“I’m looking at it as just like, go out there, have fun, enjoy the game again and be the best player I can be, best teammate I can be, and take all my experiences good and bad, I feel like the best people learn from that,” Jones said Tuesday. “And I feel like there’s some experiences I could have done better learning from and maybe it wouldn’t happen again.”

The former University of Alabama star has a refreshed perspective from his ups and downs with the Patriots. Jones feels reenergized, perhaps a bit humbled and refocused as he prepares for what he hopes is a career rebirth with his hometown Jaguars. At the least, Jones’ fresh start is a one-year audition for his next stop. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract and could parlay that into a lucrative deal somewhere else next year. Jones wasn’t thinking that far ahead, only how he can help the Jaguars this season.

“I feel like as a hometown kid, it is my dream to play here at some point, and now’s an opportunity to kind of just, like I said, learn, play, get out here and under the sun finally, and enjoy,” Jones said.

Jones is soaking up the experience and the reps at Miller Electric Center during Jacksonville’s OTAs and enjoying the process. Coaches have liked what they’ve seen out of Jones so far, too.

“He’s the ultimate pro. He’s done a great job since he’s been here, spending time studying the offense, getting caught up in the offense. You can see why I liked him coming out of college, when looking at quarterbacks back then,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “We’re excited to have him. Gives us a great room with he and C.J. [backup QB CJ Beathard] as kind of competing in that role, and he’s done a nice job. Throws a really good ball. He’s smart, he’s eccentric, he can be a little quirky as times. You see him on the field doing some different things, but that’s the joy and the fun I think that he wanted to get back to a little bit, and he’s done a great job for us.”

The Jaguars made headlines last March when they traded a sixth-round pick to the Patriots for Jones. He had an up-and-down time in New England, reaching the playoffs as a rookie but struggling the last two years. Then-coach Bill Belichick benched Jones for Bailey Zappe and the writing was on the wall about his tenure with the Patriots. Belichick and New England parted ways in the offseason and the franchise promoted Jerod Mayo to head coach drafted Drake Maye to be its new quarterback.

Jones, 25, was lost in the shuffle of two turbulent seasons in New England but he doesn’t disparage his time there. If anything, Jones said that his three years helped shape him into a better player. Jones, despite his inconsistencies the last two seasons, has passed for 8,918 yards and 46 touchdowns in three years. He’s completed 66.1% of his passes.

“It was tough. I think when I look back on it, it’s like, I usually do my best after my worst, you know, and that’s kind of how I’m looking at it,” he said. “You know, I didn’t do great in the last two years up there. Had a good first year. But at the end of the day, now it’s time for me to do good again. And that’ll just happen by being consistent, working hard. And like I said, being a great teammate so it’ll happen.”

Jones had the unenviable — and impossible — assignment of having to replace legend Tom Brady in New England. In Jacksonville, the pressure, so to speak, to be a franchise savior isn’t there. Trevor Lawrence, a player whom Jones got to know while the two were in high school, is the unquestioned starter. Jones and Beathard are competing to be Lawrence’s backup.

“I’ve got a big burning fire [inside] but at the end of the day, you know, I show it,” he said. “But I got to stay within myself and just be Mac and it’ll all work out.”

Jones said that his vantage point is unique. Much like Beathard, he’s now a veteran in the league and tries to offer critiques and praise where he can. On Tuesday, one of the most energized plays for Jones was a throw he didn’t even make. It was Beathard who dialed in a throw to receiver Brevin Easton that lit up the huddle.

“So, I’m working with some of the younger receivers, ‘Hey, try this move.’ And when you see it come to life in practice, like I didn’t even throw one today, CJ had it, but Brevin ran a great route, and we kind of talked through it in the film room. And that’s what it’s all about,” Jones said. “And I was so happy to see him execute. I didn’t even throw him the ball, but I was so happy because you talk about it. It’s something I learned somewhere else, Alabama, Patriots, whatever. And then you kind of put it in fruition.”