'I feel it's more on me than anyone else': Mac Jones explains New England Patriots' conservative offensive approach
At Alabama, Mac Jones spent more time throwing the ball downfield than throwing it short. In the NFL, he's done the exact opposite in his first two games.
Many New England Patriots fans were surprised to see the explosive rookie turn into a "Checkdown Charlie." Mac Jones gave an explanation to those fans in an interview on "Merloni and Fauria" via Patriots Wire.
“Like I said, just whatever they call, and they’ve called good plays and Josh [McDaniels] has done a good job preparing me in the red zone knowing what the other team is going to do and stuff.”
“I definitely can just have those conversations with him to let him know that I can do better because I feel like it is more on me than anybody else. I can make those tight-window throws — I have in the past — and we can be better."
"It is what it is. We can obviously work on it and maybe come up with some different ways to have creativity or whatever just to get the offense to come together in the red zone.”
Mac Jones averaged 4.6 yards per play and only had two passes travel more than 20 yards. One pass was a 20-yard completion and the other was a 22-yard incompletion. While the offense was quite conservative, Jones was able to do what the opposing rookie was not. The Patriots QB had no interceptions in the 25-6 win over the New York Jets.
Mac Jones and Gunner Olszewski just executed a jumping celebratory headbutt. Here it is in all its glory. https://t.co/IVkBm17SZN
Mac Jones' showings so far: Jonesing for more?
Meanwhile, his opponent, Zach Wilson, threw four interceptions, starting with both throws. The Patriots are electing to be conservative in order to stay competitive now, but could it hurt the end product?
Wilson may be throwing constant interceptions now, but he could eventually learn how to carve up defenses later.
If Jones steers clear of throwing the ball deep, he could put a ceiling on himself later in his career, considering he didn't learn how to throw deep when he was young.
If he tries to learn throwing deep later in his career, he won't have the same leash as a rookie. In that case, if he has a similarly rough performance as a five-year veteran, he could quickly find himself getting benched and marked as played out.
Of course, all that matters in the NFL is right now in a win-now league. Wilson just saw his ranking plummet as a result of his last performance. Mac Jones is still holding steady after two games. However, if Jones continues to check down, defenses may start to crowd the line of scrimmage and force him to throw deep.
At that point, the NFL is going to get a true taste of what kind of quarterback Mac Jones is.