The main Mac Jones storyline coming out of Monday night’s game is obvious: The Patriots have a legitimate quarterback controversy now between the 2021 first-round pick and rookie Bailey Zappe.
But somewhat lost in all the noise about Jones’ performance is what he did on a couple of plays that might raise some eyebrows across the NFL, especially with one specific player in Carolina.
Jones took just 18 snaps before Bill Belichick pulled him in favor of Zappe on Monday night. Yet, Jones still found a way to make a couple of controversial, borderline-dirty plays in the process.
The sophomore signal-caller scrambled three times, running for 24 yards in the process. On two of those three scrambles, he made a couple of questionable slides. The first came on a play late in the first quarter when he bolted the pocket and ran for a first down, going into a slide and then kicking out his leg at Bears safety Jaquan Brisker and getting him in the shin.
Brisker was no worse for the wear, but on a play just a few minutes later, the rookie defensive back wasn’t so lucky. Jones again took off before going into the slide, this time kicking his foot up into the air and connecting with Brisker in a place where no one wants to be kicked.
Peyton Manning even called it out on the “ManningCast” broadcast on ESPN2.
Brisker ultimately got the last laugh, though. After catching his wind, he returned the game and hauled in a highlight-reel interception, the first of his career, on what would be Jones’ final pass of the evening.
There must be something about that Gillette Stadium turf that makes QBs want to kick up that foot. Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady famously went in spikes up against Ravens safety Ed Reed in the 2012 AFC Championship Game in Foxboro. Brady did something similar last season against the Giants, too, but that might be clumsiness as much as anything else.
Perhaps a similar defense could be made for Jones. When healthy, Jones isn’t the most athletic, fleet-footed quarterback in the NFL. Monday night marked his return from an ankle injury, so he might have been even more awkward trying to make things happen with his legs.
But the fact that it happened twice — with the second one being so egregious — raises suspicion.
There’s also a bit of a trend developing with Jones, too. Panthers linebacker Brian Burns suffered an injury when Jones twisted Burns’ ankle in an attempt to tackle him last season. The peeved Panthers quickly called the play dirty. The NFL even reportedly reviewed the play for potential supplemental discipline but ultimately decided against fining Jones.
