Mac Jones is enjoying a very good rookie season, but the New England Patriots quarterback has struggled of late.
The Alabama product has completed just 40 of 77 pass attempts (51.9 percent) for 444 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions over the last two games. Jones’ lackluster performances were major contributors to the Patriots losing in Week 15 versus the Indianapolis Colts and Week 16 against the Buffalo Bills.
Despite the recent downturn in Jones’ play, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has plenty of praise for the consistency the rookie QB has shown throughout his brief tenure in New England.
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“I think Mac is pretty consistent. He’s been consistent day to day and week to week. Honestly, I think he’s one of our most consistent players,” Belichick said during his video press conference Friday morning.
“He works hard. He continues to improve. There are new things every week from a gameplan scheme/matchup standpoint, but he continues to gain experience processing those. He doesn’t repeat many errors. There are a lot of new things for him, things he hasn’t seen that come up. He handles those things pretty well, quickly and consistently. So, I think he’s one of our most consistent players.”
The Patriots have two more games remaining in the regular season, including Sunday’s matchup versus the last-place Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium.
Defense and a strong run game are the Patriots’ biggest strengths, but you’d have to figure the team will need Jones to step up and make plays in the passing attack during the playoffs. Putting together two quality performances to end the regular season would be huge for Jones’ confidence and give the offense some much-needed momentum as the playoffs near.
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