MAC Jones He garnered plenty of praise for his solid rookie season, but the New England Patriots quarterback hasn’t been immune to criticism yet in the second year.
Jones threw five interceptions and lost one tackle during the first three games of the season. The Patriots are 1-2 to start the campaign, largely because of the costly turnarounds.
Castle: What to expect from the Patriots attack in the absence of Mac Jones
Michael Lombardi, the former CEO of Bates, did not back down from his criticism of Jones during a recent episode of his series. Budka “GM Shuffle”R. Lombardi rips Jones for hurting the team by not protecting the ball and referred to the 2022 Patriots as “the most anti-Belichick team he’s ever seen”. He even went so far as to say Jones could be out of the league if he keeps playing this way.
Cruel, to say the least. But is the criticism justified?
Tom E. Curran, Phil Perry and Matt Cassel have shared their reactions to Lombardi’s comments on a new episode of the Patriots Talk podcast.
Patriots talk: Can Brian Hoyer raise the Patriots in the absence of Mac Jones? | listen and subscribe | Watch on YouTube
“I think the idea that he’ll be out of the league soon if he continues to play the way he does is a bit strong,” said Perry. “That’s a little bit exciting for me.” “I’m not sure it’s really fair for McJones to look at his situation and say this is not training, these are players who don’t care about football and are playing ‘out of control’. …
“I think we know who Mac Jones is. I think we know he’s smart, and I think we know he’s accurate. For me, he didn’t fall in those categories from year one and year two. There’s a lot going on that changed the results a little bit, but to say that he’s He could be out of the league soon on a three-week basis in his second year which is a bit strong for me.”
Cassell explains that while two of Jones’ decisions in week three were in question, some of his moves were simply not QB’s fault.
“At the end of the day, these are bold statements,” Castle said. “And if you play the movie, the first interception against Miami – look, it’s a ball you have a 1v1 game outside with DeVante Parker, your new game. You throw it and another good player in this league, Xavien Howard, shoot the ball to intercept, it wasn’t a bad decision. It wasn’t a really bad throw, it was just good play by the opponent’s defence.
“The strip sack in that game, they had a misunderstanding about the offensive line…that’s not so much on Mac Jones as it is in calling up front.”
Jones is currently dealing with a high ankle sprain and put him in Sunday’s game at Green Bay in doubt. If he’s unable to wear the suit, veteran QB Brian Hoyer will start.
As discussed in the episode: How has McJones’ ankle injury and the start of the season in general affected his development? To what extent is the lack of transparency about Mac’s injury negatively affecting his ability to do what is best for his health and long-term career aspirations? How does the offensive coaching situation influence Mac’s decision on how quickly he wants to get back on the field? And Cassel shatters what looks like a veteran’s backup when the initiating QB goes down due to an injury.
Check out the latest episode of Patriots Talk Podcast On NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or Watch on YouTube.
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