Ex-Patriot Julian Edelman Criticizes Mac Jones After Dallas Disaster

Last Sunday marked a low point for the Patriots in the Bill Belichick era.

New England didn’t just lose its Week 4 game in Dallas — it was completely embarrassed. The Patriots committed three turnovers, including two that were returned for touchdowns, in a horrific 38-3 loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

Belichick’s defense wasn’t as bad as a 35-point decision would lead you to believe. The offense, however, was abysmal — so much so that Mac Jones once again is being questioned as the franchise quarterback. Even Julian Edelman, who can hype up the Patriots with the best of them, couldn’t sugarcoat what went down last weekend in Dallas.

“This is a quarterback league,” Edelman said on “The Ryen Rusillo Podcast,” as transcribed by CBS Boston. “You have to have a quarterback that fits your system to win games. And right now Mac hasn’t been developing at the rate that they want. He’s still having rookie-type throws.”

Edelman added: “You can’t go out and do what he did. That was bad football. You can’t throw late across the field twice in four plays. He’s very out of sync right now, and it was bad. You’ve gotta take care of the football. Bill’s gonna preach that. Guys, we need to take care of the football. Because once you start doing that, that team’s not designed, the Patriots aren’t designed to play from behind.”

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Jones was accountable after the Week 4 mess, which saw backup Bailey Zappe play the final quarter-plus behind center. It also sounds like the 2021 first-rounder’s confidence isn’t completely shot despite the lingering struggles that date back to last season.

But at this rate, it’s becoming tougher and tougher to see the Patriots-Jones partnership working out the way the sides hoped when New England selected the Alabama product 15th overall a few years ago. And one could argue Belichick and company are more to blame for these failures than Jones.