Back in 2021 when Josh McDaniels, right, was New England’s offensive coordinator, he helped Mac Jones succeed during his rookie season. Now he is coach of the Raiders and the two will be on opposing sidelines Sunday. Matt Stone/Boston Herald

TUSCON, Ariz. — No one knows Mac Jones the quarterback quite like Josh McDaniels.

McDaniels studied him as a prospect. He developed him as a rookie. Now, McDaniels is back to studying Jones, this time as an opponent while the Raiders scheme to stop him on Sunday.

And yet the familiarity, after a full season living and working together, cuts both ways. So does Jones believe he knows how McDaniels will attack him?

“Yeah,” the quarterback said Thursday. “We’ll see.”

Then, he laughed.

“They can do whatever they want,” Jones continued. “They can blitz 11, they can blitz none. Whatever they want to do, you’ve just got to read and react.”

That was McDaniels talking. An old lesson instilled in Jones last year, the idea that the offense can always be right because there exists no perfect coverage or impenetrable front. Every defense ever designed has a weakness.

If you can find it, theoretically you can exploit it. Read and react.

That’s why identifying defenses before and/or after the snap is so foundational to the system McDaniels built in New England, a system that’s since been razed to its foundation and been minimally redecorated with RPO tinsel and a Marcus Jones package. Few offenses, if any, ran more passing plays with option routes than the Patriots’ under McDaniels. Confusing Jones, therefore, figures to be atop the Raiders’ defensive to-do list Sunday.

Because if Jones makes clean reads, even with a depleted set of weapons, he should poke holes in the NFL’s worst-ranked defense by Football Outsiders’ opponent-and-situation-adjusted metric, DVOA. Las Vegas’ secondary talent scares no one.

“Great scheme, they do a lot of different things,” Jones said. “They have a big library to pick from, it just depends on what they want to choose.”

Up front, the formula is slightly simpler. Pro Bowl edge rushers Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones key most the Raiders’ pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Jones and Crosby caved in the Pats’ offensive line for long stretches of their shared joint practices back in late August when Isaiah Wynn was healthy. Now, the Patriots are picking between an injured Yodny Cajuste and turnstile Conor McDermott at right tackle.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for us up front,” Mac Jones said.

“Those two guys are obviously big issues,” center David Andrews added.

How well the Pats can fend off the Raiders’ edge rushers should determine how long Jones has to sort through any secondary disguises and find an open receiver. But with Jakobi Meyers and DeVante Parker both likely sidelined with concussions, his receiving options could be down to separation-challenged veterans Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor, and second-round rookie Tyquan Thornton. And if Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) can’t play, the Patriots will suddenly be without their top two pass-catchers and three of their top five receivers.

Under this scenario, the offense might opt for a run-heavy game plan, where trouble could still await. Because even though the Raiders are a slightly below average run defense by most metrics, the Patriots’ rushing attack is even worse, ranking among the worst run-blocking teams in the league since Jones returned from his high ankle sprain in Week 7.

So does it behoove the Patriots to take the ball out of Jones’ hands and hand it off anyway? Or go pass-heavy and hope he can distribute to a non-threatening receiving corps?

This is a decision McDaniels and the Raiders will try to make for the Patriots, knowing that reading and reacting can only take Jones so far. Because while there exists no perfect defense, there may be no good answers for a pocket-bound quarterback working with a below-average set of weapons and pair of offensive tackles on Sunday; regardless of how familiar or prepared Jones might be to see his old mentor again.

“I think Josh is a great coach, a great person, just a really good leader. Really prepared me really well last year,” Jones said. “Obviously got his chance to coach a football team, and he’s done a great job. At the end of the day, it’s us against their defense … but he knows a lot of our stuff. Obviously we’re familiar with them, too. (I) think it’s a good matchup. “

MATTHEW JUDON enjoyed a multi-sack game, and within hours, he gets contacted by the NFL saying he must submit to a performance-enhancing drug test.

Judon estimates he’s already taken eight to 10 tests this season. In past years, he said he maxed out at five.

“I’ve had a whole bunch of drug tests the past couple weeks, man,” Judon said Thursday. “But it is what it is. … There’s nothing in my body, so we’re all right.”

Judon has already recorded a career-high 14.5 sacks this season. After pocketing 1.5 against the Cardinals last Monday, the league mandated he take a test at the team’s resort in Tucson, where the Patriots have stayed and practiced this week. Judon vented on social media Thursday morning.

“Dear NFL (and) NFLPA, leave me the (expletive) alone please,” he tweeted Thursday. “It’s no way this is random. I take melatonin to sleep sometimes. The rest is just vibes.”

That afternoon, Judon admitted there’s nothing he can do but continue to test and vent. All NFL players are subjected to drug testing throughout the season, per league rules.

“If I don’t take it, I’ll get in trouble,” Judon said. “So I’m just going to cry about it and take it.”