Patriots quarterback Mac Jones blamed himself for Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Jones said after the game that if he played better, the Patriots probably win the game.

When asked about getting the ball back twice late in the game with an opportunity to win it, Jones squarely put the blame on himself.

“Yeah, not good by me. They gave me the ball twice to win the game, and I couldn’t do it. I just got to go back and watch and see what I can do better, but as a quarterback, that hurts; right? You get a chance to win the game twice and can’t do it. You just got to learn from it. You only get so many opportunities in the NFL to do that, and I felt like I definitely let the team down.”

In Jones defense, the blame should not fall just on him. Sure, he could have made better decisions throughout the game and he did have some accuracy issues, but he was not the sole reason the Patriots lost the game.

The Patriots got off to a slow start offensively and a big reason for that was their inability to run the football. The pick six Jones threw to Darius Slay certainly did not help matters. He airmailed the pass but the ball was tipped by Kendrick Bourne which led to the interception.

Jones completed 35-of-54 passes for 316 yards and three touchdown passes. He certainly played well enough for the Patriots to win the game. Ultimately they did not do enough to get it done so while it is noble of him to fall on the proverbial sword for his teammates, they lost as a team.

Jones teammates certainly had his back after the game. Specifically tight end Hunter Henry who said he would go to battle with Jones anytime.

”“I’ll just say this about Mac, man. I’ll go to battle with number 10 any day of the week. I love competing with that guy every single day, and I’ll go to war with him wherever it is, man – conditions cold, rainy, beautiful day, a hot day, whatever it is. The dude’s a competitor, and it’s fun to go out there and play with a guy like that.”

Bill Belichick was asked about Jones performance but he did specifically single out Jones in his comments.

“We have confidence in all our players and confidence in everything we do. Running game, passing game, special teams, defense, we have confidence in all of them.”

Jones was asked about his growth as a leader in year three and once again he shouldered the blame when in fact, there were other reasons why the team lost.

“Yeah, 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. I felt like in the most critical times, I played my best 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.”

If Jones had played poorly and the Patriots had to overcome his performance to make the game competitive, that would be one thing. He did not play bad however. Jones played well. If the better executed in certain situations as a team, they would have won the game.