Bill Belichick called Thursday's New England Patriots preseason opener a "good evaluation night." So, how would the head coach evaluate Mac Jones' performance?
He wouldn't share specifics.
Asked Friday morning about how his rookie quarterback fared in New England's 22-13 win over the Washington Football Team, Belichick spoke generally about the team's need to "play faster."
"I think really, it's pretty much the same for everybody," Belichick said. "Some good things, so things that we need to -- just in general, we need to play faster and react faster. That's every position across the board. Practice is practice, but things happen at game speed, and that's something that I would say everyone needs to improve on. Certainly at the quarterback position, but every other position, too.
"We haven't had the live game exposure until (Thursday) night, so it's a good opportunity for us to recognize how fast things are going to happen and have to match that speed. So I think the speed of the game for all of the rookie players was a little bit different, certainly, than anything we've been able to practice."
Jones, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, played a total of five series in his preseason NFL debut, not counting a kneeldown at the end of the first half. He relied primarily on short and intermediate passes, completing 13 of 19 for 87 yards while averaging a modest 4.6 yards per attempt.
Cam Newton started the game and played the first two series, going 4-for-7 for 49 yards. Third-stringer Brian Hoyer played the entire fourth quarter and mostly handed the ball off, going 2-of-4 for 14 yards.
Belichick said Newton, who's trying to hold off Jones and keep his starting spot, is "definitely way ahead of where we were last year," when the veteran QB signed late in free agency and did not have a preseason thanks to NFL COVID-19 restrictions.
"But again, as I said, it's I think the same for everybody," Belichick continued. "Just practice and fundamentals and then taking that to the execution that we need to have at game speed. Again, for all of us -- players, coaches, everybody. (Thursday) night was the first step, but we have a long way to go, and we all need to improve in those areas."
