FOXBOROUGH – During training camp and the preseason, Mac Jones looked like he had gotten his groove back.
After a miserable 2022 campaign with inexperienced play caller Matt Patricia at the helm, Jones seemed like he had put the pieces back together during training camp under new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. He appeared to regain his confidence and was ready to put his best foot forward against the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener.
He didn’t have DeVante Parker, and starting guards Cole Strange and Michael Onwenu due to injury, and also faced the pressure of having to perform well, with Patriots legend Tom Brady in the building for a halftime ceremony in his honor.
So how did Mac fare with that as a backdrop? Would he embrace the challenge, or wilt in the moment?
Here’s the rundown: It couldn’t have started out much worse for Jones. Wilt in the moment? The boo-birds were out early. Thirteen minutes and four seconds into the first quarter to be exact.
“Where’s Brady?” shouted one voice in the crowd.
And for good reason. The offense was ugly. The first five possessions? Pick-six. Fumble. Three-and-out. Three-and out. Three-and out. The latter three with good field position.
Jones was bad. The offense line was bad. It was a mess.
Before Brady took center stage at the half, however, the boos turned to cheers. Jones and the offense finally showed signs of life putting together a pair of scoring drives. For Jones, the switch finally went on, as the Patriots quarterback went 12-for-13 for 117 yard with two TDs on the final two drives before the half.
The first was a 10-play drive culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jones to tight end Hunter Henry. The second had him hitting Kendrick Bourne with a 19-yard TD strikes. Jones made a pair of terrific throws in the red zone for the scores.
While Jones wasn’t sacked in the first half, that didn’t mean the Eagles potent pass rush didn’t get to him. The good news? Jones hung in, and took hits to make plays. That was a great sign considering he wasn’t good under pressure last season.
In the second half, Mac moved the ball, and finally hit pay-dirt late in the fourth quarter with Jones engineering a six-play, 75 yard drive. He connected on his third TD pass, hitting Kendrick Bourne from 11 yards out.
Talk about red zone efficiency the Patriots were one of the worst in that department last season. They went 3-for-5 against the Eagles. The two failed attempts were killers.
After a golden opportunity late in the game, with the defense forcing a turnover in Eagles territory with a little over three minutes to go, down five, Jones couldn’t capitalize. Facing a 4th-and-12, Mac didn’t get the play off, and was hit with a delay of game penalty. He couldn’t blame Matt Patricia on that one.
After another huge defensive stop, the offense got the ball back with 1:57 to go. With Brady, arguably the best at pulling off a comeback, watching from above, the offense took over on their 44.
Jones couldn’t deliver. He drove the team down to the 20 yard line, and once again couldn’t connect on fourth down, with a pass to Kayshon Boutte first ruled a catch by the sideline, then incomplete after review.
Given his horrendous start, it was encouraging to see Jones to come back the way he did in the 25-20 loss. He finished 35 of 54 for 316 yards. He threw the three TDs, with 1 pick. He was sacked twice.
So it was a mixed bag for Jones. But given the backdrop, this could be considered a step forward for Jones. He still hasn’t shown he can lead a comeback, but maybe that’ll come in time.
