FOXBOROUGH – The biggest piece of the Patriots blame pie has fallen on the shoulder of Mac Jones.
At least outside Gillette Stadium.
After being benched in the past two blowout losses, the Patriots are sticking with Jones as their starting quarterback. Before game planning for the Las Vegas Raiders, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said the offense met on Tuesday to try and right their many wrongs.
Although there are people outside of the building calling for the team to make a change at quarterback, O’Brien and the Patriots aren’t placing all the blame on Jones. Instead, they’re pointing their fingers at everyone.
“I don’t think it’s about one person. I really don’t,” O’Brien said when asked about what went wrong for Jones. “There are definitely things (Jones) can do better. Whether it’s footwork, the read of a route, or the check of a play. There’s also 10 other guys out on the field and all 10 of those guys would tell you ‘there’s things that I can do better.’”
Apparently, that was the tenor of Tuesday’s meetings. O’Brien also noted that Jones came into Gillette Stadium on the team’s off day on Monday to meet with him and work out some issues.
Jones entered the Patriots Week 4 matchup by completing 65% of his passes (81-of-125) to go with 748 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. That put him ranked in the NFL’s top ten in passing yards and touchdowns. Over the last two weeks, however, Jones has looked like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
Jones has completed just 56% of his passes (24-of-43) to go with 260 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions in losses to Dallas and New Orleans.
When looking at the many offensive issues, O’Brien said it wasn’t just Jones. That’s why other veteran offensive players in New England stepped up in Tuesday’s meeting to address their position group’s play.
“You saw David Andrews after the game. There’s no better guy in this organization than David Andrews. He’s taken ownership of what the o-line needs to do better,” O’Brien said. “Trent Brown, great left tackle for us, he’s taken ownership of what they need to do better. Hunter Henry, he’s taken ownership of what the tight ends need to do better. Rhamondre Stevenson has taken ownership of what he needs to do better. Coaches, we’re taking ownership.
“It is what it is, but we have to get it better. Everybody is understanding of what their role is in it. As the quarterback, you’re the focal point, everybody understands that so you shoulder a lot of the blame. At the end of the day, it’s a team sport, and we all have to do a better job.”
O’Brien noted the main problem facing the Patriots is turnovers. The team ranks tied for 30th in the NFL in giveaways with 10. After that, O’Brien also pointed out a laundry list of issues they need to improve on – pre-snap penalties, run game consistency, pass game consistency, route running, the design of the routes, and pass protection.
Those many issues are why the offensive coordinator won’t place the blame solely on Jones’ shoulders.
“There’s always obituaries being written, but there’s a lot of football to be played,” O’Brien said. “Let’s see if we can get better. I think the NFL is always about who can improve the fastest. We have a long way to go, don’t get me wrong, but hopefully, we can get there.”
