Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is trying to still say the right things and project confidence as his team’s losses continue to mount. After falling to 2-7 on Sunday, though, he acknowledged that it can be tough to remain confident.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Jones said. “I think the biggest thing, like you said, is remaining confident in yourself. When you do everything you can every day, you should have no regrets. I have no regrets. I do need to do things better, but I’m always going to work hard and put in the hours. That’s all I can do, right? Motivate people around me to do it as well. I’m always going to be the same person. Obviously, like you said, the results aren’t there right now. It stinks. There’s no excuses.”
Jones was asked about one potential excuse – not having talented weapons who can get open consistently – and acknowledged that it was “a good question,” but also reiterated that there are “no excuses” and that there are things he can do better, too.
Making his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show on Monday, CBS analyst and WFAN host Boomer Esiason weighed in on the fine line Jones is trying to walk of being a team leader, not throwing anyone under the bus, and hiding his frustration with the situation around him. (Listen to the full interview above.)
While Esiason has been plenty critical of Jones’ body language and sideline demeanor in the past, he said he thinks Jones is at least trying to say the right things in his press conferences and WEEI appearances.
“I know what it sounds like, but I also know that you want to project that you're not losing your confidence publicly,” Esiason said. “Because, quite frankly, everybody on that team, family members, coaches, coaches’ family members, are watching what everybody is saying after games. I'm sure a lot of teammates are going home and they're all sitting there going, you know, this guy is no Tom Brady. And I'm sure they're having a little bit of a discussion about the way that he is conducting himself, although I haven't seen anything that I wouldn't appreciate as a teammate of his.
“I think he's trying to keep a stiff upper lip. He's trying to be a confident leader. I mean, in the eyes of many, I'm sure that this is probably going to be his last year there in New England. But he's not going to go down without a fight, and I think that's kind of where he's at right now mentally.”
Esiason also relayed his own experiences playing on a losing team destined for a high draft pick, and explained that while ownership and team management may start to set their sights on the future, players – especially the quarterback – have no choice but to continue to try to win games.
“There's gonna be a lot of business decisions being made,” Esiason said. “I don't know how the coach will deal with it in a certain way. He'll either bench guys and bring up other guys and just get other people chances. There are ways teams can tank.
“I will say that I don't think the players ever feel that way. I know I never felt that way going out on the field. I always wanted to win the game that I was playing. I had no regard for next year's draft. Now, the upper management may see it a little bit differently and they may manipulate the roster or take some guys out of the roster and give their team a better chance to lose. That may be the case.”