It would be safe to say Mac Jones did better than expected in hisfirst year in the NFL. The New England Patriots have beenlooking for a dependable quarterback since Tom Brady left and it didnāt take long for theAlabama Crimson Tide product toadjustto Bill Belichickās playbook.
He finished the regular season having completed67.6% of his passes, throwingfor 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and13 interceptions. Those are not bad numbers for a rookie quarterback at all, and mistakes are part of the process.
However, Jones has usually beentoo hard on himself after a bad performance. That has been the case this week again, following the Patriotsā loss to the Miami Dolphins in the regular season finale.āI think we just need to execute better and that starts with me. Just in practice, in the game, youāve got to go out there and do much better than I did. Itās super embarrassing honestly ā just from my point ā just how I played,ā he said postgame. A day later, he reflected on those comments.
Patriots QB Mac Jones speaks up on being self-critical
āI want everything to be perfect and all that, but itās a team sport and weāre all in this together. It all starts with me, trying to do the best job I can to get everybody the ball and operate the offense,ā Jones saidon WEEI sports radio on Monday, as quoted by USA Todayās Patriots Wire.
āI think I just didnāt have my best day,ā Jones continued. āMoving forward, thatās something that I have to do better: get off to a faster start and put my team into a position to win and play from ahead early.ā
While being able to recognizehis own mistakes could be a strength for the rookie quarterback, it is also true that he can often be excessively hard on himself when things donāt go according to plan.
At the end of the day, mistakes are part of the game and itās up to Jones to learn from them. But he also needs to see the bright side, the Patriots are in the postseason again and he played a big part in it.
