Mac Jones had the worst game of his NFL career on Sunday. Luckily for him, his two most notable coaches believe it's just a one-off. New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien came to the defense of the quarterback following his brutal performance in the 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, in which Jones completed 12 of 21 passes for 150 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble–with two of his turnovers resulting in touchdowns.

“Some of the decisions that he made were very uncharacteristic of Mac,” O'Brien told reporters Tuesday. “He's just trying to make a play, he's wanting to win, he's very competitive. I think you'll see a lot of improvement in Mac as we keep moving forward here.”

After leading the Patriots to a field goal on their opening drive, Jones seemed to unravel after he was hit from behind on a sack in the second quarter, which led to an easy scoop-and-score for the Cowboys. Following a three-and-out on the Patriots' next possession, Jones threw two passes across the field on the ensuing drive, with the latter being intercepted by DaRon Bland and returned for six.

Mac Jones nearly had another interception when the Patriots got the ball back, throwing a ball that hit a Cowboys defender right in his hands as he ran out of the pocket. That was the last time the Patriots had the ball that half, but O'Brien sensed that it was already too late as he thinks that Jones and the offense got away from the basics.

“You can't let things get out of hand, and that's what happened, because we didn't do a good enough job of stemming the tide and fixing things right away and going back to our fundamentals,” O'Brien explained. “… You always have to play mentally within yourself. It doesn't mean that you can't take calculated risks; it just means that you have to do a really good job of making sure that you understand what we're trying to do on every play and executing that play to the best of your ability at a high level, and take what the defense gives you.

“I would say, for the most part, Mac does that. We're going to work really hard this week to improve some things.”

Mac Jones is still the Patriots' QB1

Jones remained on the field for the start of the second half, throwing an interception on a fourth-down play on the Patriots' first possession before wildly overthrowing DeVante Parker on a third-down pass. That pass led to another three-and-out and ended Jones' day.

While Jones got the hook in the third quarter of Sunday's loss, it doesn't sound like he's lost his starting job. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game that Jones was pulled because he didn't see a reason to still have him playing. Belichick defended Jones' decision-making on Monday as well.

“In general, I think he makes pretty good decisions,” Belichick told reporters of Jones. “He sees things well, but obviously, as a team, we can’t win turning the ball over three times in a game, two for touchdowns. We’ve got to do a better job of that. That’s everybody’s responsibility. The quarterback’s part of it, so is everybody else.”

Bill O'Brien on Mac Jones' potential

Mac Jones, Patriots, Eagles

The 2023 season has been viewed as an incredibly vital one for Jones. After he had a strong rookie season, he took a step back in 2022, getting benched in one game before getting his job back for the rest of the season. Jones struggled though, throwing for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

While he wasn't perfect in the first three games of his third season, there was some promise. He ranked in the top 10 in passing touchdowns and yards through Week 3, helping New England almost come back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.  Some might think that whatever progress Jones made in those three games was negated following his performance in Week 4.

O'Brien doesn't view that as the case, believing that there's talent within the quarterback that he and the rest of the team have to help support.

“Mac is a battler,” O'Brien said. “He is a competitor. When you play quarterback in this league, you have to limit the mistakes and you have to limit the bad games you have, obviously.

“We have to do a better job of coaching up some things with him. He has to do a better job of making good decisions for us. He knows that. He takes a lot of ownership — you saw that, I think, after the game. He blames himself.

“The game wasn't lost because of one guy. The game was lost, on our part, because of how poorly we played and coached in the game. … We have a lot of belief in Mac; I think he'll get back to doing it the way he knows how to do it.”