Kurt Warner: Mac Jones didn’t look like an NFL QB last season

On Wednesday’s edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner admitted Mac Jones didn’t look like an NFL QB at times last season.

• Just left scratching your head...

  Kurt Warner: I thought there was a number of things that they did in their offense that just made me scratch my head like, I don’t know why they’re doing it like this. And, you know, this kind of spacing makes it really hard on a quarterback because he can’t really read what he’s trying to read or we’re not moving the defense. And so that’s the kind of stuff that, and again this is in my mind, I have no idea, you know. of Matt Patricia, and you know what they were and where they got all their stuff. But in my mind, it says, Oh, they’re looking at other film and going, Oh, here’s a concept that everybody runs. And it’s a good concept.

  Scott Zolak: Felt like they were just running plays at times.

  Kurt Warner: I don’t think it’s just running plays. I mean, I think again, they’re good concepts because everybody around the league runs them. But if you don’t understand how to run them, those concepts, that’s a huge issue. Like, if I don’t understand how to release, if I need an inside release or an outside release or how this affects what my quarterback is seeing, I can’t just throw something up on the board and go, well, I saw it 27 times this week around the league and it was really successful. Let’s run it. Okay. How are we going to run it? What are we going to do with it? How does it look? What’s the important aspects of it for a quarterback? How are we setting up Mac (Jones) to to play on time and to connect different things? And I got to the point where I was scratching my head about Mac going, what is he doing? Like, I saw him do this, you know in Alabama, I saw him do this last year and now it doesn’t even look like he knows how to read some of the most basic concepts. And so that’s what happened. It just to me got so out of whack and I couldn’t put my finger on why. You know, you’d see Mac make a great play here. Well, it’s a great read. That’s the Mac that I know. And then you see him have two or three where you’re like, I mean, this doesn’t even look like an NFL quarterback to me at times.

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  Dec 24, 2022; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) checks with head coach Bill Belichick, left, and senior football advisor Matt Patricia, second from left, during the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

• Listen to the full segment!

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  Dec 1, 2022; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) on the field against the Buffalo Bills in the second half at Gillette Stadium. Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

• Watch the conversation

  "I don't think you're ever going to have a great offense unless you build around your QB... I really didn't feel like they catered this at all to who Mac [is]"
  
  Kurt Warner joins @ZoandBertrand to break down what he saw from the #Patriots' 'head scratching' offense last season 👀 pic.twitter.com/LbcXxmzqwW

  — NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) February 8, 2023