Jaguars HC Doug Pederson: Mac Jones does “good job” but falls into “patriotic habits”

For Mac Jones, the Jacksonville Jaguars not only gave him a change of scenery, he also got a new role: The former starting quarterback of the New England Patriots will serve as a replacement for Trevor Lawrence this season.

In the eyes of Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, Jones has played well in their system but still needs to break old habits.

“Mac has played extremely well the last few weeks and has really bought into what we’re doing. He’ll still get back into his (New England) Patriot ways every now and then. We have to remind him he’s in Jacksonville. But he’s done a good job,” Pederson said Friday night after Jacksonville’s preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons, according to the Jaguars team website.

“He did a good job of directing and leading the offense and getting everyone involved.”

In Friday night’s preseason win over the Falcons, Jones totaled 113 passing yards, one passing touchdown, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 106.9 while completing 72.2% of his passes. In the Jaguars’ three preseason games this summer, Jones totaled 421 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and zero interceptions while averaging a passer rating of 112.6 per game and completing 38 of 52 passes (73.1% completion rate).

In his three seasons in New England (2021-23), Jones averaged 2,972.7 passing yards, 15.3 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a passer rating of 85.8 per season while completing 66.1% of his passes (14 starts per season).

The Patriots selected Jones with the No. 15 overall pick out of Alabama in the 2021 NFL Draft, and he was named to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season. They acquired a sixth-round draft pick from the Jaguars for Jones, whose fifth-year option was declined.

Jacksonville is coming off a second straight 9-8 season. They lost five of their last six regular-season games, missing the playoffs after reaching the AFC Divisional Round the year before. The Jaguars signed Lawrence earlier this offseason for five years and $275 million ($55 million per season), the highest average annual value in NFL history.

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