New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones didn’t exactly dissect the Carolina Panthers defense in Week 9. In fact, he threw just 18 passes but threw an interception and had 20 dropbacks and had a fumble.
The rookie made mistakes.
But Jones left the field with a big smile on his face. The Patriots beat the Panthers, 24-6. It was a drastically different reaction to how Jones reacted to the Patriots’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he was 31 of 40 for 275 yards, two touchdowns and one interception — one of his better statistical performances.
With Jones, it’s not always easy to quantify how he’s improving from week to week. So offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels explained some of the ways he’s seeing the 23-year-old make strides beyond the stat sheet.
“I just think overall seeing things and identifying the front variations that you see a lot of in the National Football League: coverage disguise, little tips and indicators from the secondary that every team tries to hide at times,” McDaniels said Tuesday on a videoconference call. “I think if a game can slow down for you a little bit — pre-snap, post-snap — based on some things that you’re learning and based on some things that you’re able to utilize, I think that’s always a huge benefit to you as you go forward.
“Like I said, we put a lot on the quarterback. And he’s never shied away from that. He’s always loved the burden that we put on the QB, even though he is young and learning. Like I said, there’s a lot of areas that I could pinpoint. We’d be here all day. But he’s making progress, for sure.”
Jones has looked like a contender for the Offensive Rookie of the Year after nine games with the Patriots sitting at 5-4 and in striking range of the playoffs. He has completed 66.7% of his passes for 2,135 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
But, again, McDaniels isn’t focusing on those counting stats.
“I’m not worried about measuring him right now,” McDaniels said. “I think every day and every week is an opportunity to make progress. Three years from now, you can start talking about enough of a sample size to look back and see where we’ve really grown and measured from his rookie year to some other year. But right now we’re in the middle of his rookie year. I think daily progress is the goal. Mac’s work ethic and attitude have been tremendous, and I know that he’s looking forward to getting ready for this week, too.”
[listicle id=114363]