Mac Jones has had a tumultuous season thus far. He has played well in spurts but he has also been benched twice in blow out losses to the Cowboys and Saints. Jones tenure in New England in many ways mimics his three seasons as a Patriot. You get some good and you get a fair amount of bad when it comes to Jones play. What we saw Sunday was good but given Jones history, there is no guarantee that he can replicate his performance from this past week against the Dolphins on Sunday.
To his credit, Jones recognizes that he needs to be more consistent.
“Really just want to build off the momentum and continue to do it, do it over and over again. Stick to the process, have expectations for yourself and don’t pay attention to the other expectations. That’s going to be big for me, and really starts in practice, right? Try to focus on ‘how can you do it again’? How
can you stack good days together’’? That’s going to be a very big focus for me this week.”
Jones has plenty of critics locally but despite his detractors in New England, he has a lot of support nationally. ESPN Analyst Dan Orlovsky thinks Jones has been dealt a bad hand in New England. Orlovsky thinks the Patriots have set him up to fail with coordinator changes and a lack of a supporting cast.
“All these guys have so much more talent,” Orlovsky noted of the rosters on opposing teams. “And he’s got a bad offensive line. But we want Mac Jones to play like, ‘Oh, where’s the third-year leap?’ With what? With who?”
“And then all of sudden, there’s a little rhythm in their offense yesterday. A guy makes a play or two. [Demario] Douglas makes a couple of plays downfield with the ball in his hands. And then all of a sudden, Mac Jones beats the Buffalo Bills,” Orlovsky pointed out. “‘Oh, maybe he can play a little bit.’ What’s been done to Mac Jones is a joke. I’m not sitting here telling everybody he’s Patrick Mahomes, but he still has the chance to be a good player in this league — a really good player at quarterback.”
Orlovsky is not the only one who shares that sentiment. I recently spoke to a league source who told me he believes that Jones could flourish with several other organizations around in the league and he believes that Jones could even win a “playoff game or two” with the right organization.
It begs the question. Is it the Patriots or Jones? It does not really matter at this point. If Jones can be more consistent, he will play better. Not only that, he could still be the Patriots quarterback of the present and the future.
The Patriots have to make a decision on Jones long term future this spring. They have to figure out whether or not they are picking up his fifth year option by May. If he plays like did on Sunday, it is a no brainer. If he reverts back to what he was against the Saints, then the debate will rage on as to whether or not to move on from Jones after this season.
Either way, Jones is viewed as a starting quarterback outside of New England. If it doesn’t workout here, he could get another shot elsewhere. It will be a fascinating situation to watch play out in the coming weeks and months.