Damien Harris was a running back for the Patriots during Mac Jones’ first two seasons as New England’s quarterback, and Harris says Jones’ downfall wasn’t his fault.
Instead, Harris blames the Patriots’ coaching staff, saying that Josh McDaniels did a great job as offensive coordinator during Jones’ rookie year, and that Bill Belichick let Jones down by turning the offense over to Matt Patricia and Joe Judge after McDaniels left. Harris continued The athletic football show that Belichick’s overhaul of the offensive coaching staff was “a debacle.”
“What happened to Mac Jones in New England was not because of Mac Jones,” Harris said via Boston.com. “What happened in New England with Mac Jones was the fact that you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to become a Pro Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year . And then you take – whenever Josh McDaniels left – Matt Patricia, who has coached defenses his whole life, and Joe Judge, who has been a special teams coach, coached receivers at one point. And then you just throw them in and say, ‘Hey, coach this kid. He’s a first choice, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything will be fine, and that wasn’t good.”
Harris said he understands why Belichick became set in his ways given the success his ways had in New England, but he said Belichick ultimately let Jones down.
“He needs complete control. That’s exactly the kind of guy Bill Belichick is,” Harris said. “But at the same time, can you blame him? Because in the twenty years he was in complete control, he had a lot of success. So you can’t blame him.”
But if Jones blames Belichick, it would be easy to see why.
