Mac Jones isn’t the only former member of the Patriots trying to turn this around in San Francisco. His quarterbacks coach is too.
That would be Mick Lombardi, a former assistant under Bill Belichick who left in 2022 to follow Josh McDaniels to the Las Vegas Raiders, where he worked as the offensive coordinator.
It didn’t work out.
Now, both Jones and Lombardi are looking to get their NFL careers back on track in San Francisco, a place that has a history of guiding players to a rebirth.
"We’re kind of in similar boats where it didn’t work out in the previous spot. Now we’re here, trying to get better and learn from a great system,“ Jones said at a press conference Wednesday.
Lombardi spent three seasons in New England and had one year of overlap with Jones in 2021. That year, Lombardi was the Patriots’ wide receivers coach.
Jones said he and Lombardi didn’t work too closely during that season in New England. However, he said that shared experience and known lingo will help them work together.
“It’s been great. When I first was deciding to come here, that was a familiar face that I knew,” Jones said. “I’m just talking with him. He knows kind of how I learned football. So it is interesting. We’re both trying to continue to learn this system.”
The 26-year-old Jones is still looking to rebuild his NFL stock from where it was as a rookie Pro Bowler. After struggling his final two seasons in New England, Jones was traded to the Jaguars.
In Jacksonville, Jones had an underwhelming stint as a starter after taking over for the injured Trevor Lawrence. Now, he’s hoping too pull off a revival similar to what former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold did as a backup in San Francisco.
Jones sure sounds like he has confidence in Lombardi helping him pull that off. Jones said he looks forward to Lombardi coaching him hard this season.
“I think he does it in a way – he coaches you really hard, but it’s not, like, yelling at you and bashing you down," Jones said. “He’s going to lift you up and say, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do better. Let’s get it done.’ So I really appreciate that about him.”