Kurt Warner isn’t a fan of the Patriots offense.
To that, we are saying take a quantity. Watching Mac Jones & Co. has been a painful expertise for everybody this season.
The Hall of Fame quarterback, nonetheless, gives useful context to his disapproval. As a former participant, Warner put himself in Jones’ place with the X’s and O’s the Patriots quarterback has been requested to make the most of. To that finish, the Super Bowl-winning QB mentioned he could be depressing if he was tasked with working the Matt Patricia-led offense.
“This year, it’s very basic and simple. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. But for a guy like me, I’d be bored to death,” Warner instructed the Herald in a current interview. “I’d hate to have the same concepts over and over, even if they’re good quality concepts. I like creativity. I like options as a quarterback. And, they don’t do a lot of that.”
Warner’s view isn’t simply from flipping via clips of Patriots video games. The NFL Network analyst did a deep dive on the offense not too long ago, in certainly one of his “Study Ball” YouTube movies.
In the hour-long session, Warner dissected the Patriots’ efficiency throughout the 33-26 loss to the Vikings on Thanksgiving evening. Even with the entire offensive manufacturing put up by Jones, he got here away with a number of takes, none of them very constructive.
He was shocked by how poorly the Patriots offense as a complete handled the necessary particulars, particularly having such a simplistic offense to function from.
Warner was vital with regard to Jones’ reads, the route-running of the receivers, their spacing, play designs, and so on. None of it was significantly inspiring to the quarterback who led “The Greatest Show on Turf” offense for the Rams.
Fast-forward to Thursday evening’s debacle in opposition to the Buffalo Bills. Outside of 1 bubble display to Marcus Jones that went 48 yards to the home, the offense was stagnant. It went nowhere.
First downs had been exhausting to return by. After going 3-for-10 on third down in opposition to the Vikings, they adopted with a 3-for-12 in opposition to the Bills.
Jones wasn’t practically pretty much as good in opposition to the Bills as he was in opposition to the Vikings. And even then, Warner discovered loads of fault with Jones’ efficiency in opposition to the Vikings.
Checking in with him Friday following the loss to the Bills, none of his views on the offense had modified from a number of days earlier. It’s nonetheless a prepare wreck.
“(They have) all kinds of issues, but it’s the same basic, non-creative plays each week,” Warner mentioned by way of textual content. “You could probably go back to Week 1 and see all the same stuff! I know most of it off the top of my head! Just fascinating that they decided to try this experience and think it really had a chance to thrive early!”
In different phrases, they went with the identical working performs and identical fundamental brief, fast sort throws which the Bills had been in the end prepared for.
All of which led to Jones at one level to have an expletive-laden tirade on the sideline, a scene that went viral on social media.
During the Prime Video broadcast, Jones appeared to say: “Throw the f—ing ball! The quick game sucks!”
Warner understood Jones’ frustration with the offense, however didn’t utterly absolve him from blame.
While Jones’ made an excellent level in between the expletives, Warner additionally pointed to Jones being a part of the issue.
“I didn’t think Mac was very good again,” Warner mentioned by way of textual content. “He was yelling about throw the ball down the field and I thought he had some opportunities down the field and didn’t take them.”
Bottom line, it’s not good from high to backside.
Patricia is struggling as a first-time play-caller. Jones is struggling in Year 2, and so is everybody not named Rhamondre Stevenson and Jakobi Meyers.
Add in a foul offensive line and its a woefully ineffective offense.
Warner is definitely a “big Mac fan.” He thought he was actually good final 12 months, particularly at processing data and getting the ball out of his arms.
This 12 months? Not a lot.
“This year, I don’t feel like he’s doing that very well. This year, I think he’s missing easy reads, he’s getting his eyes in the wrong places, he’s playing too fast,” Warner mentioned. “He just doesn’t look comfortable with what they’re doing this year. I don’t know what the reason for that is. Obviously, it’s a new offense.”
It’s a brand new offense that’s pedestrian, and doesn’t essentially reap the benefits of Mac’s strengths as a quarterback. At least, that’s how Warner sees it.
“I’ve always thought Mac’s greatest strength was his ability to process information,” Warner mentioned. “And, their offense is what I would call very simple, meaning that they don’t run a whole bunch of concepts, and the concepts are pretty straightforward concepts that a lot of people have in their playbook, but just not a lot of variety.”
In different phrases, it’s simple for a protection to choose up, and irritating for individuals who are in it. And as talked about, that frustration spilled over each on the sphere, and within the locker room following the Bills recreation. There’s an absence of perception with the offense, and the Patriots are at a tipping level proper now.
Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne mentioned they needed to “scheme it up better” when it got here to 3rd down. Tight finish Hunter Henry mentioned the offense was like a damaged document.
“Same story every week,” he mentioned. “It’s not good enough across the board.”
Warner will get it. He didn’t instantly criticize Patricia, but it surely was implied.
“I know how I would feel in that offense,” he mentioned. “Not knowing Mac, not talking to him, I don’t know. But I just see a different player. A player that’s not processing the information nearly as well as he did a year ago. As quarterbacks, we have to trust our eyes, we have to trust the play calls, instead of trying to make stuff up.”
Asked if it was on Jones to benefit from a tough scenario, Warner mentioned sure, to a level.
“You can be put in a bad spot as a quarterback, where you can sit back and say, we got to make the most of it … but I don’t want to make the most of a crappy concept,” mentioned Warner. “I don’t need to attempt to make it work when it’s a foul idea. So you will have to have the ability to work collectively to determine what that appears like for the quarterback, so the quarterback’s snug after they go on the market.
“At the end of the day, if the guy with the ball in his hands isn’t comfortable,” he added, “you’re never going to be good on offense.”
And proper now, that’s the place it’s at for the Patriots.
Source: www.bostonherald.com