‘The epitome of coaching malpractice’: Former NFL QB blasts Bill Belichick’s handling of Mac Jones

Bill Belichick harmed Mac Jones’s development, and the damage might be permanent, former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III said during a recent appearance on ESPN’s Get Up.

“For me, this comes down to coaching,” Griffin said. “In Year Two, Bill Belichick messed up his young quarterback. When you give him a defensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator as his offensive coordinator and he’s on his third coordinator in three years in the NFL, that is the epitome of coaching malpractice.”

The problems have carried over into this year, and the Patriots are asking Jones to do things he isn’t good at, Griffin said.

“Mac Jones is not a creator, but they’re asking him to create. That starts with a scheme problem. When you look at what he did in 2021, he had the No. 6 offense in the NFL. Who was his coordinator? Josh McDaniels. One of the best OC’s we’ve ever seen in this league.”

“Fast-forward to this year, what’s the difference?” Griffin continued. “In 2021, they were doing play-action 27 percent of the time. That’s the type of player that Mac Jones is. Right now, they’re doing it 14 percent of the time. Because of that, they’re asking him ‘we need you to go out and scramble a little bit, the play is going to break down and you’re going to do all these different things. That’s not who he is.”

Griffin said he still holds Belichick in high-regard, despite the coach’s handling of Jones. The Patriots benched Jones on Sunday after he threw two interceptions, had a fumble returned for a touchdown, and failed to lead any touchdown drives in a 35-point loss to the Cowboys.

“Bill Belichick is one of the greatest coaches we’ve ever seen, Griffin said. He’s arguably the greatest coach of all-time in NFL history. But, he really overthought this and it had hurt Mac Jones permanently in my opinion.”