FOXBOROUGH – Bill O’Brien is looking to help the New England Patriots’ offense turn the page as they head into 2023.

While that includes Mac Jones, who’s entering his third season after a sluggish 2022, O’Brien made it a point to mention that it’s a fresh start for everyone on the unit when he was asked about Jones’ ceiling for the 2023 season on Tuesday.

“I think the big thing for us right now is everybody’s starting with a clean slate,” O’Brien said Tuesday. “I think that every year’s different. I think this year is no different than any other year relative to each year in the NFL is different. So what you did in the past — whether it’s a player or a coach or anybody in the organization — really has no bearing on what happens moving forward.

“We just started [Monday], and we’re looking forward to having a good Phase 1 [of the offseason program] and then a good Phase 2 and then a good Phase 3. That’s what it’s all about.”

Tuesday was the first day that O’Brien spoke with the media since he was hired to be the team’s offensive coordinator in January. He returns for a second tenure in New England after spending the last two years as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, where Jones, of course, played college ball.

It was believed that Jones and O’Brien briefly worked together in 2021 when the quarterback was preparing for the draft- and the coach was preparing for his new job.

O’Brien alluded that was the case, but downplayed the idea that he knows Jones really well because of the brief time they spent together two years ago.

“When I first got hired, he was there getting ready for the draft,” O’Brien said. “I basically met him, he talked to me about the generalities of the offense and that was about it. I think this time period here, starting [Monday], this is the time where you really get to know all the players. So, relative to when I was (at Alabama) two years ago, he was there getting ready for the draft, I met him, and that was about it.”

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Starting fresh was the common theme of O’Brien’s press conference on Tuesday.

While this obviously isn’t O’Brien’s first rodeo with the Patriots, there aren’t many people still around from when he was last with the team in 2011.

Matthew Slater, who rarely took the field on offense at the start of his career, is the only player still on the Patriots’ roster from O’Brien’s last season in New England.

More importantly, O’Brien enters an offensive situation that is nowhere near as settled as the last time he was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator. Tom Brady was the quarterback then- and Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker were his two favorite receivers.

This time, Jones will likely be O’Brien’s quarterback with a receiving corps that has some talent but doesn’t have any Pro Bowlers- let alone future Hall of Famers- that the last Patriots team O’Brien’s coached had.

But to O’Brien, none of the past matters, at least for this current squad. With Monday being the start of the offseason program, O’Brien was happy to get the ball rolling on the 2023 season, as he said his theme is “about moving forward.”

“I think it goes back to — and I’m telling you when I say this — [on Monday] we started, and it really is a clean slate,” O’Brien said. “However you played or however you coached or whatever you did in the past, in the end, it’s all about what we’re going to do starting [now].

“For 2.5 months when I got hired, we were in this office next door meeting as an offensive staff, getting to know each other and things like that. Now, we get a chance to meet with the players. It’s all brand new. Every year’s new. Football is a game of emotion at times. That’s just what football is. But at the end of the day, this is a new year, this is a new start, and we’re excited about it.”

Even though O’Brien was all about turning the page on Tuesday, don’t expect him to make any predictions for the upcoming season.

“I think it would be crazy for me to stand up here and tell you what we’re doing offensively,” O’Brien said with a hearty laugh.