Doug Pederson made a comment last week that was widely interpreted as a shot at the New England Patriots, but the Jacksonville Jaguars coach says that was not his intention.
Mac Jones had an outstanding preseason with the Jaguars, who acquired him in a trade with New England back in March. After Jones went 13/18 for 113 yards and a touchdown in Jacksonville’s 31-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, Pederson gushed about the former Alabama star. Pederson said Jones has been excellent but that the QB will “still revert back to his Patriot ways every now and then and we got to remind him he’s in Jacksonville.” You can read the full remarks here.
Pederson was asked on Monday to elaborate on his “Patriot ways” comment. The coach said he was referring to Jones using hand signals or terminology from his time in New England.
“You go somewhere else, like, I went to Cleveland, and you revert back (to) terminology, hand signals, plays, things like that,” Pederson said. “That’s what you’re talking about. And sometimes he pulls out an old hand signal or throws out some old terminology or something because that’s what he’s known, right? That’s what he’s been a part of for the last several years. And that’s not a slight, a knock, or anything.”
Context follow-up:
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was asked to elaborate on his post-game answer regarding Mac Jones — in which he referenced “Patriots ways” — and this is what he said (via @ESPNdirocco): https://t.co/M9bR1VkcNU pic.twitter.com/sKETRE7tzz
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 26, 2024
Pederson’s explanation makes sense. His initial comment about the Patriots was made when discussing Jones’ command over the offense in Jacksonville, so he was probably just talking about the playbook and not any bad habits Jones might have picked up in New England.
Aside from his Pro Bowl rookie season in 2021, Jones was terrible with the Patriots. In three preseason games this year, he went 38/52 for 421 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Jones has hinted in the past that he feels he was let down in New England, so he was almost certainly motivated to perform well early on with his new team.
