Mac Jones struggled Sunday afternoon, but Boomer Esiason doesn’t believe the lousy showing is cause for concern about the rookie quarterback.
After throwing no interceptions in his first two games as the Patriots’ starting signal-caller, Jones tossed three picks against the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium. The 2021 first-rounder also completed less than 60% of his passes in New England’s 28-13 loss, which dropped its record to 1-2.
A game as ugly as Sunday’s can do damage to a young quarterback’s confidence and mental state. But Esiason doesn’t see Jones hanging his head after one bad outing.
“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,” Esiason said Monday on “The Greg Hill Show,” as transcribed by WEEI. “… 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.”
Bouncing back in Week 4 won’t be an easy task for Jones and his teammates. The Patriots on Sunday night will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have multiple reasons to be highly motivated for the primetime tilt.
