It’s been a bumpy road of a season for the Patriots, particularly for their second-year quarterback Mac Jones. The former first-round pick has taken his fair share of incoming from critics, particularly former Patriots players like Vince Wilfork and Julian Edelman. On Wednesday, it was former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder who chimed in on Jones with some harsh words.
Speaking as a guest on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Crowder was asked to evaluate today’s young quarterbacks when he offered his view on Jones, whom he criticized as suffering from “affluenza”—a nod to his perceived well-off upbringing.
“I heard you talking earlier [in the show] about the Mac Jones body language,” Crowder said, per Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post. “It’s called affluenza. [If] you’ve been given too much, you have too much money, you’re a little different. I was around a bunch of rich dudes growing up and I played with rich guys. They just have this little demeanor and you know it gets to you. You brought up Jay Cutler. I would bring up Josh Allen in this conversation. Kyler Murray was a trust fund baby.”
Affluenza is a term that describes a supposed psychological hinderance upon wealthy people. Crowder, who played for the Dolphins from 2005-10, insisted that players who grew up wealthy are sometimes not as driven or hungry as those who did not. He offered an example of a former teammate whose family had substantial wealth that did not affect that player’s work ethic.
“There are guys that have money and don’t act like it,” Crowder said. “Zach Thomas, I don’t know if Zach wants me telling this to the world, his dad’s a billionaire. And Zach Thomas is one of the hardest workers I ever touched the field with. It didn’t get to him. That affluenza gets to some [people]. It did not get to Trevor Lawrence.”
Despite the criticism swirling Jones and the inconsistent nature of New England’s season, the Patriots are 8–8 and can clinch a postseason spot with a win over the Bills in Week 18.
