Mac Jones Sees Potential After First Game Of New Patriots Offense
Jones threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns
Mac Jones led the Patriots offense to solid productivity in Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.
The third-year quarterback threw for 316 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception.
After two first-quarter turnovers from Jones and Ezekiel Elliott, the new system under offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien seemed to find a rhythm. In the second quarter, Jones completed 11 straight passes and the Patriots scored on back-to-back touchdown drives.
Jones made his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Jones and Mego” to break down his group’s outing.
“Just stay the course and run the system that we have,” Jones said on Monday. “I think there’s answers in the system. It wasn’t like there were breakdowns in the system. You just follow your rules. Sometimes, it works out. Sometimes, it doesn’t. Eventually, you’re going to get rolling. From there, you just have to continue.”
Jones recognized how early the offense is in putting together production in a new system but commended the group’s adaptability after the first quarter against the Eagles.
“Opening Day is always going to be sloppy in the beginning and you kind of figure it out,” Jones added. “Definitely learned a lot there trying to weather the storm. Literally, I guess too. It was raining.”
As a whole, the Patriots began to make plays in a contest that the New England passer believes came down to just a handful of plays.
“Once we got in rhythm, it was better,” Jones said. “It’s just like five or six plays when you look at it out of 80 plays. Just trying to get in a rhythm. We actually did.”
The talent around Jones stepped up as well as Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne found the end zone while Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte made crucial catches as rookies.
“I feel like at the end of the day, I have confidence in everybody,” Jones said. “I really do because of the standard people are trying to set in each room. Rookies and young players on both sides of the ball played well. For the older guys, they haven’t played football in a couple of months. Just trying to get back into a rhythm and into a flow. I feel like we did as the game went on. Just try to learn from it.”
New England’s offensive line served as a major headline entering the game for a group that only had two normal starters ready to play. Jones as a whole believed the group pieced together a respectable game.
“It was really good,” Jones said. “The two sacks I took were my fault.”
After a week of regular season play, the Patriots passer feels that the offense as a collective has internal trust to play to an advantageous style in 2023.
“Whenever it’s your time to make a play, they’re going to make it,” Jones explained. “A lot of those guys are open. I’m just trying to get them the ball on time. They did a good job, they’ll continue to do that. We’ve got great skill players and the offensive line is doing really, really good. As I always say, it all starts when I get the ball out of my hands and give it to somebody else and let them make the play because that’s what makes me good.”
