Mac Jones' stat line didn't look too bad in the New England Patriots' Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but he felt like he came up short when his team needed him most.

The Patriots quarterback completed 35 of 54 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns, but he threw a costly pick-6 on the offense's first drive in what ended up being a 25-20 loss for New England. That drive was the beginning of a sluggish stretch for the Pats as they fumbled on the next play and went three-and-out on their first three drives.

While Mac Jones bounced back, he couldn't help but harp on the poor start, taking blame for the season-opening loss.

“I really didn't throw any good passes on the first drive, so definitely a slow start, and it starts with me,” Jones said. “Just got to watch the tape and clean it up, but definitely felt like we fought hard. Rookies played really well. The offensive line played really well. The skill players played really well. So, definitely let the team down tonight. Couldn't score early, and we just fell behind because of me, and I put it on myself.”

Jones battled back though later in the second quarter, leading the Patriots to two consecutive touchdown drives late in the first half as he had a stretch where he completed 10 passes in a row. But the offense began to fizzle out again in the second half, punting on two straight drives before turning the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter.

Jones led the Patriots on another touchdown drive when they were trailing 25-14, driving his team down the field in just under two minutes to make it a 25-20 game with 3:37 remaining. But the quarterback wasn't able to pull through on the team's final two cracks with the ball, turning the ball over on downs both times.

As Jones wasn't able to fully come through in the clutch, he once again criticized himself for not doing what he felt he needed to do.

“I think the defense obviously played great, and special teams had some good returns and stuff so honestly just have to watch it and see what I can do better from a schematic standpoint,” Jones said. “I felt like in the most critical times, I played my worst, so I just have to go back and look and see what I can do about either better. All you can do is learn. That's what you do as a good quarterback. You go back and learn.

“When it's the hardest, that's when you need to play your best. I definitely can do it. I know I can do it. I've done it before. Just have to be better, and definitely came back and had a chance to win the game a few times. Just felt like I let the defense down, and I'll have to live with that.”

Still, the Patriots' effort on Sunday was a bit impressive for a pair of reasons. Of course, they were going up against an Eagles team that dominated when Jalen Hurts played last season, going 14-1 in games he started in the regular season en route to winning the NFC. On top of that, they battled back from an early 16-0 deficit to make it a close ballgame, falling just 20 yards short of winning it.

With that said, Jones was impressed by his team's resilience on Sunday.

“I loved it,” Jones said of his team's effort. “I think they kept fighting just play-by-play. Don't look at the scoreboard, and Coach Belichick did a great job explaining that to us. Just play each play for what it is and definitely had too many bad plays versus good plays for me. Just have to watch it and see what I can do better, but everybody around me played a great game, and just have to be better.”

As for what went wrong though, Jones thinks it wasn't a physical thing more than it was his decision-making.

“I felt like there was definitely a couple of times when I probably didn't throw it to the right guy,” Jones said. “Just have to watch the film, sometimes when you are out there, it's going fast. Just trying to stay neutral and don't go up and down, which I tried not to do tonight. Yeah, just have to watch it from a schematic standpoint. I do think I have the ability to make all the throws. It's not that. It's just doing it at the right time.”

Mac Jones will hope to rebound next week when the Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins at home. New England won the last matchup against their AFC East rival, but in the said game, the Dolphins were missing Tua Tagovailoa who has won all four of his starts against the Pats in his career.