It's been very easy to criticize Mac Jones this season, but Sunday was a day for praise for the Patriots quarterback.
Jones played one of the best games of his young NFL career in New England's Week 7 win over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. The 2021 first-rounder completed 25 of his 30 pass attempts for 272 yards with two touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 12 seconds left.
For Jones, the encouraging performance came after three straight weeks of poor play that prompted an overflow of critiques and doubt. But the 25-year-old didn't let the noise impact his play against the Bills, which didn't go unnoticed by NBC Sports' Peter King.
No Matchup Found
Click here to enter a different Sportradar ID.
Story continues below advertisement
"After playing his best game in the league in nearly two years in the 29-25 upset over Buffalo in Foxboro, what was clear to me was how Jones, as expected, is good at compartmentalizing what really matters in football: leaving the outside stuff at the locker-room door. Business is business. Don't let outside stuff interfere with it," King wrote in his latest Football Morning in America column.
The jury still is out on Jones as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He hasn't been consistent enough for the Patriots to bank on him as their signal-caller for the long haul and New England probably shouldn't pass on the chance to select a QB if it lands a top-five pick in next year's draft.
But Sunday's game did offer a reminder that Jones possesses several traits you want in your QB1. And of them is a sharp focus on the task at hand, which Jones deserves credit for.
Featured image via Kris Craig/USA TODAY Network