Patriots Rumors: Mac Jones in 'Good Command' of Bill O'Brien's Offense at OTAs

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is reportedly impressing at OTAs with his grasp of the new offense installed by offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.

During an appearance Friday on SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said:

"I talked to somebody close to Jones in New England. They said he's thrown the ball well, showed up in good shape and he's been in good command of the offense.

"The Patriots really believe that they're in a good spot here with the offensive identity under Bill O'Brien—didn't have much of that last year, and they added JuJu Smith-Schuster, who he's got some chemistry with already. With the weapons they already have, they believe there will be no excuses. They can ball and put up some offense this year."

Jones, who was the No. 15 pick out of Alabama in the 2021 draft, is set to enter his third year as New England's starter.

The 24-year-old Jones enjoyed instant success as a rookie, going 10-7 for a Pats team that reached the playoffs. He was also named a Pro Bowler after completing 67.6 percent of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Expectations were high entering his second season, but Jones had to deal with a muddled situation on the offensive side of the ball, as both Joe Judge and Matt Patricia were in the mix to call plays and run the offense despite having no previous NFL experience in that area.

The confusion yielded poor results, as the Patriots went 8-9 and missed the playoffs, and Jones completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 picks in 14 starts.

In an effort to get Jones and the offense back on track, head coach Bill Belichick brought back O'Brien, who previously served as a Pats assistant from 2008 to 2011.

In addition to stints as a wide receivers coach and quarterbacks coach, O'Brien was New England's OC in 2011 before becoming head coach at Penn State and then with the Houston Texans.

More recently, O'Brien was the offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2021 to 2022 and played a significant role in quarterback Bryce Young winning the Heisman Trophy.

Jones should be in a better situation this season thanks to O'Brien's presence, although New England has not done much to upgrade the weapons around him.

The Pats did sign Smith-Schuster away from the Kansas City Chiefs, but they also lost Jakobi Meyers to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. Otherwise, New England is merely hoping for better results this season from wideouts DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton.

ESPN's Dianna Russini said Thursday on Get Up that the Patriots are among the teams with interest in five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in free agency.

If the Pats can find a way to sign Hopkins and pair him with Smith-Schuster, it would go a long way toward helping Jones bounce back from a nightmarish 2022 campaign.