Category: Mac Jones

ESPN analyst explains how Patriots can become ‘legitimate contenders’

Is it time to unleash the playbook and let Mac Jones air the ball out?

Mac Jones can throw the ball.

His reputation around the league with the New England Patriots thus far is that he can only throw short to mid-level passes. The rookie is still learning the Patriots’ complex playbook and he’s much more than a game manager.

Over the past few weeks, Jones has proven that he’s capable. He had a deep ball to Kendrick Bourne that was perfectly placed against the New York Jets and he also a 44-yard strike to Nelson Agholor against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jones threw for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and only four interceptions with a 77.4 completion percentage last year with the Alabama Crimson Tide — in a year that he played all SEC opponents. He’s capable, but his time just hasn’t came yet.

ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth had the same sentiment while discussing the Patriots on “Get Up” on Wednesday.

“I’ve been rooting for them to kind of take the reins off of Mac Jones and they’ve done it a little bit more,” Foxworth said, as transcribed by Boston.com. “But I think if we were going to consider them legitimate contenders, they’re going to have to let him throw the ball a lot more than they have up until this point, and take more aggressive shots down the field.”

The Patriots are 4-4 and coming off their most impressive win of the season, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 27-24 on the road. The week before, Jones had his first 300-yard game and the Patriots blew out the New York Jets, 54-13.

New England is heating up at the right time and as Foxworth mentioned, the AFC is currently a mess right now.

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Brian Hoyer has simple yet important advice for Mac Jones

Brian Hoyer has an important piece of advice for Mac Jones.

As quarterback Brian Hoyer continues to be a mentor to New England Patriots rookie Mac Jones, the veteran has been giving the young signal-caller advice throughout the process. Some of the advice is even simpler than one might expect.

A 13-year veteran, Hoyer has been through NFL life and has seen it all. He also knows at the end of the day, it’s just a game.

With Jones coming off his first 300-yard passing game of his career, Hoyer continues to hammer home one important message for the rookie. As the relationship between Jones and Hoyer continues to grow, Hoyer is not afraid to offer tips.

“I’m telling him, ‘Dude, you’ve got to smile sometimes. This is supposed to be fun,’” Hoyer said. “To see him coming off, see a little emotion and energy this past week, we just have to keep improving and keep that going.”

With Jones looking to build on a solid rookie campaign to this point, cracking a smile may be needed as the wear and tear of the season begins to set in.

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Brian Hoyer has this great advice for Mac Jones as he grows with NFL career

Brian Hoyer is spot-on with this advice for the rookie QB.

Brian Hoyer certainly carries some wisdom from his time in the NFL.

The New England Patriots backup quarterback has been in the league for 13 years and seven of them have been in Foxborough. He knows, more than most people, about the rigorous grind in New England and he understands how to navigate it.

Because of this, Hoyer relayed some very simple advice to Mac Jones.

“I’m telling him, ‘Dude, you’ve got to smile sometimes. This is supposed to be fun,’” Hoyer said to reporters, via WEEI. “To see him coming off, see a little emotion and energy this past week, we just have to keep improving and keep that going. For me, it’s a pleasure first and foremost to be part of this team and organization. I love the guys in that locker room, but to take on this role in my 13th year with the knowledge I have accumulated over the years in this offense, I am always trying to point something out, or he has a question, that’s part of my job. So, it’s always great to see him continue to progress and continue getting better.”

When it comes to Hoyer’s relationship with Jones, he’s thoroughly enjoying it.

“It’s been great,” he said. “First, the thing you notice about Mac and everybody sees it is he’s a very mature 23-year-old. It’s been great. The thing I have been so impressed with him is he’s constantly trying to learn, constantly trying to get better — no matter what the situation. Whether it’s after a game, in a practice and you can see the wheels are always turning. He’s always thinking what can he do better, how can he do it better. I think him being as mature as he is, he’s done that pretty quickly. This is my 13th year, there’s always room to improve, so for him he’s always looking where he can improve, asks great questions, takes a lot of great notes. He’s done a great job.”

Jones has thrown for 1,779 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games — with a 70.4 completion percentage. He’s improving each game and had his first 300-yard performance last week in a rout of the New York Jets.

The accolades and success will come — but, as Hoyer stated, it’d be beneficial to have some fun during the journey.

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Chargers’ Brendon Staley applauds Mac Jones’ rapid growth with Patriots

“They’re running a lot of premium-type offensive plays that you would think a more experienced quarterback would have.”

Mac Jones is quickly finding his way in the New England Patriots’ system.

The No. 15 overall pick led the Patriots to a 54-13 rout against the New York Jets in Week 7 and he did it with his first 300-yard game. He’s carrying a 70.4 completion percentage and his ability to throw the deep ball is elevating by the week.

The Patriots are heading into a Week 8 matchup on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers, who happen to have another young rising star at quarterback in Justin Herbert. Chargers head coach Brendon Staley spoke with reporters about Jones and detailed the things that impress him.

“I see a guy that’s an outstanding decision-maker,” Staley said. “I think his processing is at a premium for a young quarterback; you can really see that he can see the game. I know the way they play on offense, they ask a lot of that position. You can tell that he can process at a high level because of the type of plays they’re running. They’re running a lot of premium-type offensive plays that you would think a more experienced quarterback would have.

“He has that kind of command over their system, and I think he has really good anticipation as a thrower. I think that’s a big asset of him just as a pure passer — he has great anticipation and his ball placement is outstanding. He’s got real toughness for the position. You can see when he’s in tight pockets that he’s willing to hang tough and play the way you’re supposed to play.”

Bill Belichick had his own praise when it came to Herbert.

“He’s really good,” Belichick said. “I thought he was outstanding [in college]. He just really had everything you’re looking for. He’s very athletic. Good arm. A lot of poise. Played well in Oregon. Just a number of big plays. All the passes. All the throws, but extended plays, scrambles, could run the read-zone and all that.

“He’s as good a quarterback as I’ve seen come out here in quite a while, especially as it fits the pro game. I don’t think you’re going to find too many better than him. This guy is really an impressive player. I thought he was really good when we played them last year, and, luckily, we had a pretty good day, but I’m not counting on that again. I have a ton of respect for him. I think he’s going to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league for a long time to come.”

The Patriots are looking to gain a winning record and a victory over the Chargers would make that feat much easier.

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Dak Prescott is high on Mac Jones’ potential for these two reasons

Dak Prescott believes in Mac Jones for these reasons.

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For the second time this season, Mac Jones took one of the NFL’s top teams to the wire and lost in heartbreaking fashion.

The first difficult loss was against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the rain at Gillette Stadium. Jones had an insane 19 consecutive completions and the Patriots lost because of a missed 56-yard field goal.

In a Week 6 thriller against the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots lost 35-29 in overtime on a touchdown from CeeDee Lamb. Before the Patriots made it to overtime, Jones quickly shrugged off a pick-six to Trevon Diggs by throwing a 75-yard touchdown to Kendrick Bourne.

The Cowboys followed up with a field goal to bring it to overtime and the rest was history after that. There were some positive takeaways from the loss and NBC Sports’ Peter King discussed them in the King’s Football Morning In America column.

He specifically dove into Prescott’s opinion on Jones.

First, I want to pass along something we talked about after discussing this game. New England quarterback Mac Jones lost Sunday, and he threw what should have been a game-killing pick-six to Trevon Diggs (the ball just finds this guy) with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter. I said to Prescott how impressive it was that Jones, on the very next snap, threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to get New England back in it, and how impressive it was that Jones took three or four brutal shots on the day and just kept playing Rocky Balboa. He kept coming back for more.

Prescott didn’t wait for me to finish. “Those two things that you just said, honestly, are the two most important things to be really good at this position. You gotta be able to take a lick and not flinch and make the play when the hard hit’s coming. And when you have a bad play or an interception and the game changes right there, you gotta have the water-down-a-duck’s-back mentality. Let it go. It’s over. Mac’s got that. I really like what I see out of him. He’ll be a good quarterback for a long time.”

Jones has a lot to learn still, but his poise and ability to bounce back from mistakes will be instrumental in his growth.

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Boomer Esiason still believes Mac Jones can take Patriots to playoffs this season

With a 17-game regular season and Bill Belichick at coach, it isn’t impossible.

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The New England Patriots’ 35-29 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 was deflating for a team in search of a playoff spot.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are running away with the AFC East and the Patriots are now sitting with a 2-4 record. It feels like the right moment to give up playoff hope and start looking ahead to the future. But, CBS analyst Boomer Esiason isn’t quite ready to do that yet.

While joining WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Monday morning, he went into further detail on this.

“With a 17-game season, yes,” Esiason said. “I’m not off the bandwagon. I’m not. You guys can all quit on your team if you want. I’m not quitting on the Patriots.

“The reason I’m not doing that is because they have taken two of the best teams right to the end of the game. They’ve gone, as Bill Belichick said yesterday, toe-to-toe with one of the best offenses we’ve seen in the NFL. I’m telling you, when they start getting into other parts of their schedule against other teams that aren’t this good, they’ll rack up some wins. … This is a long, long year. I know it’s disappointing, but I’m still saying that I’m going to stick with them at this point.”

Mac Jones looked extremely impressive against the Cowboys and he was resilient even after he made a critical error.

“After Mac Jones throws the interception to Trevon Diggs that ends up in the end zone, there would have been an easy place right there to hang your head,” Esiason said. “But then he comes out, they run a double move, there’s a misplay by the safety, and he throws a touchdown pass.

“That moment there, and how that kid handled what had just transpired in the last 60 seconds, was all I need to know about whether that kid can be a pretty special quarterback. … The fact that he was able to do that at the end of the game showed me all I need to know about him as a long-term solution for the quarterback situation in New England.”

The Patriots have a long journey to the playoffs and the next challenge will be the New York Jets.

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Mac Jones’ gravestone is part of Myles Garrett’s Halloween decorations

Mac Jones has a scary day ahead of him with Myles Garrett on the opposite side of the ball.

The New England Patriots have five games to get their offensive line together.

Against the Houston Texans in Week 5, the Patriots were missing four starters on the line and that won’t cut it against the Cleveland Browns. The Patriots will host a talented Browns team in Week 10 and Myles Garrett will be haunting Mac Jones the entire game.

Garrett currently leads the league in sacks (7), tackles for loss (8), quarterback pressures (23) and quarterback hits (16). He’s wreaking havoc against every offensive line he’s faced and he notes that in his hilarious Halloween decorations.

Garrett decorated his front yard with gravestones for the quarterbacks that he’s facing this season — Jones is up front and center.

Here’s a look at the numbers for Garrett this season.

Free agent Matthew Judon is holding his own and is almost as threatening as a pass rusher as Garrett — which is extremely impressive.

Boomer Esiason isn’t hitting panic button on Mac Jones following loss to Saints

The former QB isn’t ready alarmed by the growing pains of New England Patriots rookie QB Mac Jones.

The New England Patriots had an alarming loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 3.

James Winston and the Saints had a suffocating loss the week prior and the expectation was that New England would carry its momentum in a home game to take walk away with a victory. Sean Payton and his pass rush had different plans.

Mac Jones, who threw for 270 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions, was flustered the entire game as he was hit 11 times. The Saints defense threw different looks at him throughout the entire game and were the first team to make him look like a rookie.

A lot of his struggles came from the Patriots’ offensive line and their inability to keep him protected, though. And for that primary reason, along with others, Boomer Esiason explains why he’s not worried about Jones.

“Everybody’s just gotta calm down,” Esiason said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “I’m telling you, these rookie quarterbacks all through the league, every single one of them struggled yesterday. Some looked so bad and so lost that they really don’t have any business being on the field, because I don’t think they can protect themselves and I don’t think their teams are good enough to support them.

“That’s not the case in New England. New England’s a good team. Losing James White is going to hurt, no doubt about it, but they’re a solid team. This league is all built to have maybe two or three super teams if they can stay healthy through 17 games. There’s probably four or five also-ran teams that are gonna be in the running for the first overall draft pick. And then the rest of the league is gonna be right smack in the middle between 7-10 and 10-7, and I think that’s right now where New England is.

“Coach Belichick is gonna have to coach his ass off, just like he did last year to get this team to seven wins. If he can do that and they can figure some of this stuff out, they’ll beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. Yesterday, that’s a good team. That’s a good, big, defensive team, and it seemed like they were one step ahead of the New England offense. … New England’s got growing pains, and that’s exactly what we’re going through.”

When it comes to the future and bouncing back, Esiason isn’t worried about Jones’ dedication.

“He’s an all-in guy, there’s no question about that,” Esiason said. “We talked about that after Week 1. We talked about that after Week 2. He knows what it takes to be great in the league, and he knows there are going to be growing pains. He also takes every loss with a heavy heart, and that’s the way you want it. That’s one of the reasons I really like him, because it means that much to him.

“He’ll be at the facility very early this morning, going over tape with Josh [McDaniels] and trying to figure out what he can do better next week. … I know that Mac will put this one behind him and he’ll immediately turn his attention to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense. That’s just going to be the scope of what he has to learn.

“He’s fine. He’s mentally tough enough to handle this. I can’t express enough just how difficult this is for these rookie quarterbacks with everything coming at them for the first time. Getting hit, dealing with the anxiety, picking yourself back up, learning from your losses, and trying to apply it to the next game. This is part of the maturation process of all young players, especially quarterbacks.”

Esiason makes great points and Jones clearly is going to work much harder to correct these issues and get better going forward. It’s just unfortunate that his next stop is against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Mac Jones defends Patriots’ conservative offensive play-calling

Mac Jones has no problem with the Patriots’ playcalling decisions.

As quarterback Mac Jones prepares for his third start, there have been questions as to whether the New England Patriots are restricting him with their offensive play calls. Jones said he does not think that is the case.

In speaking to Merloni and Fauria on Monday, Jones fielded questions about the team’s playcalling, which included 30 passing attempts and 24 rushes during the team’s 25-6 win over the New York Jets in Week 2. Jones and the offense averaged just 4.6 yards per play, and the quarterback attempted just two passes which traveled 20 yards past the line of scrimmage, with a 20-yard completion and a 22-yard incompletion.

New England’s offense looked limited and happy to coast through the game amid a streak of four interceptions from the defense.

“Like I said, just whatever they call, and they’ve called good plays and Josh [McDaniels] has done a good job preparing me in the red zone knowing what the other team is going to do and stuff” he said. “I definitely can just have those conversations with him to let him know that I can do better because I feel like it is more on me than anybody else. I can make those tight window throws — I have in the past — and we can be better. It is what what it is. We can obviously work on it and maybe come up with some different ways to have creativity or whatever just to get the offense to come together in the red zone.”

As New England looks to put together two wins in a row, one has to wonder if the Patriots will open up the playbook as the season progresses. The Patriots are set to take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

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Instant analysis of Patriots’ interception-filled win against Jets in Week 2

Zach Wilson was the Patriots’ best friend in the Week 2 victory.

The running back crew and secondary were the biggest bright spots in the New England Patriots’ 25-6 win over the New York Jets in Week 2.

By no means, was it a pretty win.

Backup right tackle Yasir Durant allowed Mac Jones to get sacked three times for 29 yards, while left tackle Isaiah Wynn had a pair of penalties. Jones completed 22 of 30 passes for 186 yards, but he still didn’t show the big-play ability that will be necessary against opponents like the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the coming weeks.

With all that being said, the chemistry is building brick by brick and this group is coming together around their rookie quarterback who has an extremely high ceiling.

As aforementioned, the secondary is shaping up quickly without star cornerback Stephon Gilmore in the mix. J.C. Jackson led the Patriots with two interceptions and he put the clamps on highly-touted rookie receiver Elijah Moore. Adrian Phillips had an impressive diving interception and Devin McCourty put an exclamation point with the fourth pick.

New England had a shaky start offensively, but the reliable James White kicked the team in gear. White finished the day off with 20 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown along with six catches for 45 yards. Damien Harris had a slow start, but his explosiveness was present in the second half and it led to a remarkable 27-yard touchdown.

Keeping in mind, this was all against the Jets and a rookie quarterback who had a similar look in his eyes as Sam Darnold when he was “seeing ghosts.”

The Patriots will turn the corner and host back-to-back matchups against two of the league’s most prolific offenses with the Saints and Buccaneers. Jameis Winston had an incredible Week 1 showing and Tom Brady, well, is Tom Brady. The mistakes will quickly add up and put the Patriots in holes too big to recover from with the lack of big-play ability.

There’s a lot of positive takeaways, including the not-yet mentioned performance of Nick Folk who now has broke the Patriots’ record for consecutive field goals with 33.

New England is trending in the right direction, but there’s still plenty of room to grow and the struggles against the Jets proved it.

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