FOXBORO – Listening to Mac Jones week-to-week for the previous month, it’s like he’s been by means of the 5 levels of grief.
What was he mourning?
The outdated offense.
But after the Patriots’ second joint observe session towards the Panthers on Wednesday, Jones seems to have hit the ultimate stage.
After going by means of denial, anger, bargaining and despair with all of the trials and tribulations of making an attempt to adapt to a brand new offense — to not point out a brand new set of coaches dealing with each him and the offense — he’s on to acceptance.
Let’s simply say Jones has come a good distance from flinging his helmet, after which bolting from a foul observe moments after it ended.
He’s come to phrases with it. And as Jones stated final week, he’s decided to make it work.
Three weeks into coaching camp, Jones actually doesn’t have a lot of a alternative. Making the change appears inevitable.
While Jones had a superb deal with on the earlier offense, one which highlighted his strengths, the Shanahan-style offense, which is the place the Patriots are headed, can even enable quarterbacks to thrive.
That’s assuming, after all, that the workers is aware of how one can educate it, and the gamers are in a position to adapt.
So proper now, for higher or worse, Jones is dialed in to the method. The excellent news is he’s seen some indicators of life.
With the 2 days of joint practices, there’s been some progress made with the passing sport. Jones has had extra time to throw, gamers are getting open, and performs are working for essentially the most half.
DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor, who made a number of unimaginable catches Wednesday, stood out towards the Panthers. Of course, that doesn’t imply it’s all good.
The working sport nonetheless doesn’t look near being on monitor. But total, it’s a step up from the prepare wreck that was on show final week.
“It’s good. I think we’ve done some good things, made some adjustments, and stuff and are moving in the right direction,” an upbeat Jones stated following observe. “That’s all you’ll be able to ask for is only for me to have the ability to step up within the pocket and make the throws. That’s all it’s for me, or hand the ball off to the fitting man, or hit the examine down, hit the deep ball, it doesn’t matter.
“I think we have guys that can make plays all over the field,” he went on. “So regardless of how we call the play or do it, it doesn’t matter if the guys are open, and if they’re not, I just have to be smart and throw it away. But they’ve been open a lot and those 50-50 balls have been really good for us.”
During a number of breaks for the offense, when the particular groups periods have been going down, Jones might be discovered sitting subsequent to a kneeling Matt Patricia, who scribbled on a white sheet of paper, after getting suggestions from his younger quarterback.
It’s honest to guess that is a part of “the process,” too; Jones providing his two cents on the validity of performs to Patricia, the offensive line coach and presumed play-caller.
“I think we laid our foundation of what we want to do and what the coaches want to do. We’ve definitely bought into that,” Jones stated. “There’s issues that I’ve achieved up to now. There are issues that I like, and we’re making an attempt to include them extra. Or issues that coach Belichick sees on movie and he’s like, ‘hey what do you think about this?’ So it’s very fluidm and for them to have the ability to take a few of our ideas is actually essential.
“I think the really good offenses in the NFL, you can tell that the play-callers and the quarterback are on the same page. So I think we’re getting there and that’s the progress we need, and I’ve been really pleased with that.”
Jones, nonetheless, wouldn’t acknowledge if Patricia was going to be his play-caller on Week 1, deferring the reply to Belichick.
Perhaps, that’s as a result of the reply to that query remains to be unknown. Belichick gave the impression to be the one calling the performs towards the top of observe, not Patricia. So who emerges after the mud settles stays anybody’s guess.
“I think that’s up to coach Belichick to make the decisions. At the end of the day, I’m going to do whatever they tell me to do and do it to the best of my ability, as is everyone on the offensive line and the skill players,” stated Jones. “That’s all we can control is doing our job, and our attitude and our effort. We’ll get there, hopefully this week, when we get a chance to play it’ll be really good.”
On the day, Jones went 11-for-15 throughout full-team durations, and 5-for-7 on 7-on-7s.
There have been nonetheless a handful of instances with no-chance performs, the place he mainly needed to eat the ball.
It was, nonetheless, good to see that after the couple of skirmishes that broke out, Jones threw landing passes on the next two snaps when play ensued. One went to Jonnu Smith, and the opposite to Agholor, who made a terrific catch on a back-corner throw.
At this level, the great performs are outweighing the dangerous. It wasn’t that approach final week, or the week earlier than.
The offense isn’t out of the woods simply but, removed from it, however Jones appears in a significantly better place with the way it’s shaking out.
“If you really know football, you can see there was only a handful of bad plays out here,” he stated. “So, you are taking away these dangerous performs, no matter it’s – 4 or 5 a day – after which everybody’s saying it’s an awesome day.
“So, at the end of the day, we play each play as if it has a life of it’s own. Slot each play, and don’t look forward and don’t look back. But, at the same time, you want to make the adjustments like I talked about, and we definitely did that pretty well.”
Small steps, however steps nonetheless. And that has given Jones slightly extra hope concerning the new offense working ultimately.
Source: www.bostonherald.com
