Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones has had a terrific first 10 games of his NFL career.
The Patriots are 6-4 and he’s done an outstanding job leading the offense. The No. 15 overall pick has made all the right decisions and clutch throws, which is a major reason why New England is currently sixth in the NFL in points per game.
On the field, it’s clear who Jones is — a leader, who seems unfazed by anything, and a solid quarterback who should give the team stability at the position moving forward. Off the field, Jones is a mystery to Patriots fans.
Based off press conferences and radio interviews, Jones is a very serious person who doesn’t say much at all. His words have consisted of cliches and self-criticism, even after wins.
So, what is Jones really like, especially off the field?
The 23-year-old isn’t as serious as he comes across, but it really is football all the time and he makes it work.
“For a lot of people you choose work, or you choose fun. But the really successful people, and this is what I think makes Mac so successful, is being able to combine the two,” Mac Hereford, a friend/teammate of Jones at Alabama, said. “So, when he’s at football, he’s having a good time. He makes his work fun. Watching film, competing — that’s fun. This is why you lack getting to see the off the field stuff because he’s made football his life.”
SORORITY FLAG FOOTBALL
When Jones was at Alabama, players on the football team started coaching sorority flag football teams in their free time.
Tua Tagovailoa and a few others coached the the Zeta Tau Alpha team in 2017, but when he became the full-time starter the following season and didn’t have much time, the sorority called upon Jones, who was a third-string quarterback at the time, along with teammates Damien Harris and Irv Smith Jr.
Like he was on the football field, Jones was all business on the sidelines — to a point.
“It’s hard to have one word to describe his coaching — he’s very serious,” captain of the team Kelly Keil said. “He really wanted us to succeed and win, and win by at least 30 every game. He wanted to score on every drive. He was really competitive. But, he was also very funny and made sure we had fun. Our practices were fun. He was just a super genuine guy that translated into his coaching.”
Jones made sure the team got to the field extra early before games to go over plays (that he designed) and had 1-2 hour practices on Sunday nights, the football team’s off-day during the season.
The 2018 ZTA season was a success, as they went a perfect 6-0, including a few blowouts and beating their rival, twice, once in the championship.
Jones celebrated by chest-bumping Harris and joining the team in the middle of the field to dance.
“Maybe not as much as an Alabama win, but he was pretty excited for us,” Keil, who played running back, said.
Jones’ competitiveness did come out on a few occasions during the year. He would want to call trick plays all the time, but Harris had to remind him to tone it down and run the ball every once in awhile.
The rules were also very intense where players were not allowed to touch each other and coaches weren’t allowed to yell things to the players — ie. coach — from the sideline during the games. One game, Jones got a few penalties and was ejected — not for being disrespectful, just for being loud.
He went to his car, but didn’t leave the field. Jones watched and honked his horn whenever ZTA scored.
“It was pretty hysterical. Absolutely funny,” Hereford said.
FAMILY TIME
Jones is very close to his immediate family, which includes his mom and dad, as well as his brother and sister.
During his college days when most students would go to Miami, or a tropical island for spring break, Jones would go home to Jacksonville.
“He went back and practiced football all spring break. But, he combined that with hanging out with his family,” Hereford said. “He loves his dogs that his parents have. That’s what he would do for every spring break. He would spend time with his family while training.”
Jones worked out and threw with former NFL players in the mornings and then go to the beach or out on a boat for the remainder of the day.
His parents, Gordon and Holly, went to every game dating back to high school and then through his career at Alabama, even when he was the third-stringer.
“Both of them are comical. They are very funny,” Hereford said. “They would come to the games and he has a really good relationship with them. He would crack jokes with his dad. It was cool to see that kind of stuff because a lot of people aren’t like that with their parents.”
Josiah Johnson, who backed up Jones at The Bolles School, added: “[His dad] was out there laughing just like Mac. They have the same type of laugh, which was funny to me. They were always joking around. Mac got his sense of humor from his dad, for sure.”
At Alabama, Jones met Sophie Scott and the two started dating. They’ve been together for several years and now live together near Gillette Stadium. Earlier this season, Jones said on WEEI’s Merloni & Fauria he runs through plays with her in their backyard.
“She loves it. She loves that. That’s fun for her,” Hereford said. “And I mean, Mac is obviously not in the zone where he’s like, ‘What’s the next call? Give it to me now.’ It’s a little more relaxed and it’s fun. You could see him just laughing around, throwing the football to his girlfriend. He’s conditioning his mind without having to be in that football, all serious zone mode.”
THE LAUGH
When discussing Jones, almost everyone brings up his laugh.
“Some people used to think that he was too jokey to be so successful because he’s so comical,” Hereford said. “There’s people you enjoy being around because you can feed off their energy and Mac Jones is one of those guys. He loves his joker laugh. He’s always cracking jokes, laughing about different things. He was the life of the group in a sense. People love being around him because he has that energy and he’s fun.”
While football was and still is the most important thing in his life, when he has the time, he loves hanging around with friends and just having a good time.
“Mac was definitely one of the guys who was always driving the jokes,” Johnson said. “If he wasn’t making the jokes, his laugh is very distinct so he would always get everyone laughing as well. If he wasn’t the joke, people would start laughing at him because of his laugh.”
Keil added: “He’s definitely the class clown, that is the best way I can describe it. He’s super goofy, but he’s also super genuine. He always wants to brighten the room, make everyone laugh and make everyone comfortable. He makes a fool out of himself sometimes to make people laugh.”
Now that Jones is settling into New England, maybe fans will eventually get to know the kid from Alabama.
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