Mac Jones has been solid in his first two starts for the New England Patriots, scoring a touchdown and completing 51 of his 69 pass attempts for 467 yards. However, the major criticism on his play has been his lack of aggressiveness highlighted by the fact that he throws more shorter passes compared to other quarterbacks in the NFL.
While some believe that the Patriots are easing Jones and using a conservative system because of him, New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels denied that's the case.
“I trust him completely,” McDaniels said of the Patriots' rookie QB, per NESN. “… Believe me, there’s not a whole lot we’re holding back for him.”
Mac Jones' lack of deep shots has been pretty obvious, to say the least. As the NESN report noted, the Patriots youngster only attempted four passes that went over 15 yards against the New York Jets in Week 2. It certainly raised some concerns for fans, especially since the rookie also needs to get comfortable taking long shots if they want to truly compete among the elites in the NFL.
However, Josh McDaniels is not making a big deal out of it and explained there are a lot of factors why Jones has been limited to just short passes so far this 2021.
“I think protection is one of the discussions you have to be aware of,” McDaniels shared. “Blitz—is there a lot of pressure coming at you? Can you hold the ball? Are you able to do things with certain protections to add time to your pocket? And (Jones) has to deal with all of those. … That’s been the case for every quarterback who’s ever played. I think this was a very aggressive front that we saw in New York, certainly. They did a good job of trying to get up the field and getting into the middle of the pocket some, which certainly we can improve in that are, as well. And then we talked last week about how much pressure Miami brought (in Week 1) and so on and so forth. So I think it’s a combination of all of those things.”
Whatever the case may be, though, Jones certainly needs to step up his game as he looks to prove why head coach Bill Belichick gave him the keys to the Patriots' offense. He has already shown flashes of brilliance, but to play for a storied team like New England under a legendary coach, he has to do more.
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