Foxborough, Mass. (WEEI/WGR 550) - In, yet, the latest damning show of visible frustration among New England Patriots offensive players, Mac Jones went viral Thursday night for a sideline outburst caught on the broadcast, in which he appeared to call out the offensive coaching staff.
“Throw the [expletive] ball!” he yelled before shouting that something “sucks” to no one in particular.
After the game, he shed some light on what he really said and why he said it.
“We’re kind of playing from behind, and what I said was about throwing it deeper. The short game – I gotta execute that part better – but it’s the short game that we kept going to, which was working. But I felt like we needed chunk plays,” Jones said. “I shouted that out to get everyone going. That’s emotional. That’s football. I’m passionate this game. Obviously, you don’t want to let your emotions get the best of you, but yeah, that’s pretty much it. It wasn’t directed at anybody. Just emotion coming out, and we needed a spark.”
Jones later went on to say he and play-caller Matt Patricia were “on the same page” about pushing the ball down the field later in the game, which manifested in a few intermediate and deep attempts that didn’t connect or couldn’t materialize due to pressure.
But it’s hard not to look at Jones’ anger in that moment and feel particularly good about the Patriots’ morale on offense.
The second-year quarterback has always been something of a hot head, and it’s not unusual for players to have emotional outbursts on the sidelines during games. But everything that happens with this beleaguered offense feels magnified after, yet, another failure to launch in a very important game against the division rival Buffalo Bills.
Whether or not Jones was specifically yelling at Patricia or was otherwise criticizing the game plan, Thursday night’s anemic performance could well be a breaking point for a unit that’s already barely operational.
Though Jones is hardly without blame for those struggles, especially against the Bills, it’s not as if Patricia and the Patriots are giving him much of a chance.