FOXBOROUGH -- The opening month of the National Football League season is in the books, and for the third time New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones proved he’s got the goods to win with a quality football team around him.
Whether or not this Patriots team can hold up its end of the bargain around him is yet to be seen.
“In every game we’ve played so far, we’ve shown flashes of being a good football team,” said captain Devin McCourty.
Jones held his own under some cruddy weather conditions, on the grandest of regular-season stages, in a night that was supposed to belong to Tom Brady and/or Bill Belichick. Still, his club fell to 1-3, coming up short when Nick Folk’s potential game-winner from 56 yards clanked off the left upright with 59 seconds left.
Brady survived, 19-17. Jones shined, even in the loss.
Pounded like a pinata for at least the first half, Jones finished the night at 31 of 40 for 275 yards with a pair of TDs and a pick, good for a 101.6 rating. On his own personal courage-meter, the kid soared.
“He just keeps showing, he’s got some guts,” said center David Andrews. “It’s an honor to play with a guy like that. He battles, he battles. He’s a tough kid.”
He marched his team up the field for the potential game-winning kick – albeit one that asked the second-oldest player on the field Sunday night, Folk, to rocket one 56 yards through driving rain.
“I thought our team played competitively, and Mac is certainly a part of that,” said a clearly-dejected Belichick afterward. “You know, we can all play better and all learn from, you know, some of the things we could have done better but Mac fought hard and made a lot of plays for us.”
Jones, himself, comes with a bit of an asterisk attached. No matter what he accomplishes, the ever-present memory of Brady creates a pair of issues.
First, he’s never going to be Brady. It’s unfair to think it, but that has not and will not deter the media and fans in this town from proclaiming that as a distinct possibility.
Second, every time he does something, as little as converting a third-and-5 with a checkdown to Brandon Bolden, the comparisons inevitably surface.
He’s not Brady, not young Brady, not old Brady, never going to be Brady.
But it is hard not to notice the positives here.
A simple 7-yard swing to move the chains to Bolden late in the fourth speaks wonders to his mental acuity on the field. That was his call, his change at the line and Bolden was by himself.
Pocket presence is another plus in the Jones ledger. Sacked four times against Tampa Bay, that number might have been double without Jones’ deft footwork and feel for the rush and lightning release.
He’s got a nice slide step as he showed, evading the rush and then ripping a laser down the middle to a crossing Kendrick Bourne early in the second quarter.
The TD pass to Hunter Henry, capping that same drive was all on Jones, who looked every ball-seeking member of the Bucs’ secondary to the right, creating a one-on-one that his tight end handled brilliantly.
The escape right and find of Damien Harris on a safety-valve-turned-21-yarder showed the savvy of a grizzled vet.
Finally, there was the fact that the kid showed killer instinct when he noticed that Richard Sherman looked like a man who was signed off the street this week. He exploited Sherman, who looked like football’s version of Willie Mays with the 1973 New York Mets.
All that is so darn promising. And then you notice that the Patriots are 1-3 against teams that are 4-8 when not playing New England. And three of the nine home games are in the books.
Brady, of all people, bottomed-lined it for all of New England’s football faithful.
“In the end, it always comes down to a couple plays. I’m happy we made them,” TB12 said.
And with Jones (passer rating 101.6) holding up his end of the deal, New England for the most part has not.
“I think we moved in the right direction. You know, we made plays and played hard the whole game and I turned the ball over,” said Jones, clearly attempting to deflect blame from his teammates. “That's one of the problems, you know, turnovers can kill you, and you know if you turn the ball over – If you don't turn the ball over, you have a 90-something percent chance to win, and it's just statistics but I have thought we moved the ball, passing well and the run game needs to improve and we'll come up with ways to do that. I thought everyone fought really hard. It sucks we lost but yeah, look at it, like you said, that we're making some progress.”
Progress is good. Wins are better, and heading to winless Houston next week, Jones and the Patriots are in severe need of the latter.