Following the Patriots’ blowout win over the Jaguars, Bill Belichick had high praise for New England’s rookie quarterback Mac Jones.
The Patriots bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Bills in a game where Jones was 22-of-30 (79.5%) through the air, tallying 227 yards on three touchdown passes while posting a strong 0.58 EPA/play and a 10 CPOE.
“Mac is super consistent,” said coach Belichick. “Every day is really the same day for Mac. He’s always well prepared. He’s in early. He’s ready to go. He knows what we’re going to be doing, and he’s already got a head start on it. He maximizes the information that the coaches give him, maximizes the walk-throughs, the practice reps, and learns from whatever happens in those situations.
“He’s smart. He’s a good learner, but he’s got good instincts and good mechanics. He’s just worked hard to get better every day. A lot of consistency and great work ethic and really pays attention to details and has just improved in every area throughout the course of the year. Continues to improve on a daily basis. He’s just a really great person to coach because he’s so responsive to trying to do everything the way that you want to do it. Josh (McDaniels) has done a fantastic job with him, and Mac has really, I think, embraced the wisdom that Josh has transmitted to him, and he played extremely well today.”
Jones credited his teammates heavily in the effort, saying the o-line, receivers, and tailbacks had strong outings. He also gave a nod to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
“I think we had a really good plan and Josh outlined that for us,” Jones said. “The offensive line obviously did a great job executing and keeping the pocket clean and all that, and the receivers making their catches, and the running backs running. That’s kind of how offensive football should work, and obviously, we’ll watch the tape and see what we can get better at, but we finally kind of got some momentum early and just played the game on our terms and all that.”
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