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The biggest storylines surrounding Mac Jones over the last couple of weeks have been his expletive-laden yells that have shown his frustration about the team's offense.
Jones was outspoken though in a different way following the New England Patriots' practice on Wednesday, which was held at the University of Arizona. Patriots captain Matthew Slater shared that Jones implored the team to build off their win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Mac said it today, ‘Trying to keep our routine as close to normal as possible, whether it’s on the practice field, in the meeting room, recovering,'” Slater told reporters of Jones' message to the team. “‘We’re not on vacation. It’s easy to fall into that when you’re away from home.'”
Slater, who's in his 15th season in the league, and safety Devin McCourty, who's the second-lost tenured Patriots player behind Slater, have noticed the second-year quarterback's grown as a leader this season.
“I think he continues to find his voice,” Slater said of Mac Jones. “I think one thing Devin and I do is to encourage him to exercise his voice more. It’s sometimes tough when you’ve got a guy like Devin, you kind of feel like you’ve got to defer to him all the time, but I think Devin has really been intentional about like, ‘Hey, this is your team. You need to speak up. You need to take ownership,’ and I think he’s done that. And that’s tough. I don’t care who you are, in Year 2, that’s going to be tough.
“But he’s done a really good job of that. It’s great to see him continue to grow in that role. I know we look to him for that leadership, and he’s done a great job.”
"I think one thing Devin [McCourty] and I do is to encourage him to exercise his voice more… he's done a really good job of that."
Matthew Slater credits Mac Jones' for his growth as a leader on the #Patriots this season 👏 pic.twitter.com/fOnQEWkkhT
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) December 14, 2022
Mac Jones' growth in leadership should certainly be a positive sign in a season that's been difficult for him and the Patriots' offense. He's completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 2,198 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions, good for an 85.7 passer rating.
Jones' play has shown some improvement though in recent weeks. He's thrown just one interception over the last five games and over that stretch, he's had a game in which he completed 85.2 percent of his passes and another game in which he threw for a career-high 382 yards.
But Jones' ability to have his teammates' trust is nearly as important as his on-field play. And his message following Wednesday's practice seemed to get his teammates going.
“I definitely love it,” Patriots linebacker Josh Uche said. “You definitely want a guy that cares about the game and takes it very seriously. He’s putting it all out there, wearing it on his sleeve, and I can respect that.”
