The Patriots must learn from the Mac Jones era

The end was inevitable.

Mac Jones traded for a lateround draft pick, a sad offseason transaction prompted by two years of misery, dysfunction and on-field disaster.

Jones was never going to see Year 4 in New England. Old quarterbacks never survive new regimes, especially when they accrue enough baggage to fill a whole damn carousel. But the journey that led to Jones’ baggage, the Patriots’ losing and their shared pain? Completely avoidable.

At every fork, the Patriots took the road less travelled with Jones and didn’t miss a single pothole.

Jones needed a new coordinator and play-caller entering a pivotal second season? Say hello to … Matt Patricia?

He needed a new No. 1 receiver for a weapon-starved team? In consecutive years, the Pats opted for a discount in Devante Parker and damaged goods in Juju Smith-schuster.

Jones’ offensive line, a weakness in 2022, required repairs heading into a do-or-die campaign? The front office patched it with veteran cast-offs and Day 3 draft picks who, predictably, flopped and expedited the offense’s backslide.

Now, enough ink has been spilled retracing all of the Patriots’ failures and Jones’ shortcomings for the purpose of understanding how and why the team fell apart. All sides deserve blame. That exercise is tired, useless now.

The only value in examining the past is how it can fertilize the Patriots’ future; lessons new head coach Jerod Mayo and de facto GM Eliot Wolf can take from Bill Belichick’s missteps with Jones to ensure they don’t repeat the worst of recent franchise history.

Because teams fail quarterbacks more often than quarterbacks fail teams. The Patriots failed Mac Jones, who greased the wheels of his own demise by losing his confidence, the locker room and, occasionally, his cool. Back in October, I co-authored a deep dive into Jones’ fall from a

from Tyler Barnes, giving the Redmen the 5-4 lead at 8:47. Senior Cooper Robillard also picked up a helper on the play.

“I saw Coop pinch down and I went up to stay high and cover for him,” said Lavoie. “I saw him start to peel back, I saw Barnes get into position behind the net. He made a great pass on me and I was able to bury it.”

Bourgea added the empty-netter with 23.2 to play to seal the victory.

“I thought it was a great team effort tonight,” said Doherty. “I thought our defense played well, too. They’re a very good team it was good challenge for us, now we see what happens going back to the Garden. We won it a couple years ago, had a hiccup last year, now we’re back and we’re excited about it.”