AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper
Following the loss to Philly on Sunday where Mac Jones had two chances to lead game-winning drives and failed, he was quite hard on himself.
On Wednesday when he met with the media, he explained that he allowed himself a certain amount of time – as he does for every game – before moving all of his focus to Miami.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is the 24-hour rule, win or lose, just enjoy the win if you win and then learn from the loss if you lose,” he said. “Just trying to get better at those things, apply those things this week in practice, and move on to a really good team, honestly, just as good of a defense. They’re really good up front. They’ve got everybody back, pretty much, and it’s always been a big challenge going against these guys. They’re definitely one of the top defenses, in my opinion.”
Vic Fangio is widely considered one of the best defensive coaches in the game, and the Patriots know it.
“Yeah, I think Coach Fangio has a lot of respect around the league. He’s been around for a long time,” said Jones. He was in Philly [Philadelphia] last year for a little bit, obviously Chicago, Denver. So, he has a great background. He’s called a lot of football plays, and his defense is pretty sound, always. The guys know what to do. They’re very disciplined. I think each week, there’s going to be some carryover, just with coaching trees and things like that. But, at the end of the day, he’s kind of the top dog. He’s the originator of all the stuff, and he’s done a great job his whole career. I’m just looking forward to going against him.
“They do a good job of that (moving safeties around) just based on the early film,” said Jones. “For me, it’s just playing fast, getting the ball out to the person it’s supposed to go to and letting those guys play free regardless of who we’re going against. Just try to distribute the ball, if I’m supposed to hand it off, hand it off. If I’m throwing quick, throw quick really well. If there’s a shot, take the shot. So, it kind of falls into those buckets. They do a good job with disguise and a lot of teams will do that against us, and from there you just have to play fast.”
“Yeah, I think Vic’s one of the best defensive coaches in the league,” Bill Belichick added Wednesday morning. “He has his style, his defensive philosophy and system, and he’s had a lot of success with it.”
If Mac Jones and the Patriots are going to pull off a huge division win in primetime on Sunday, it’ll be Mac’s poise and ability to forget the bad stuff while also trying to dissect this intricate Dolphins defense that will play a huge role.