Bill Belichick's terse remark about the Patriots taking the ball out of Mac Jones' hands on the last play of the game touched off a firestorm he didn't intend.
"Couldn't throw it that far," he said when asked why New England didn't attempt a Hail Mary on the final play of the fourth quarter instead of the draw play that ended in a doomed lateral/fumble recovery/walk-off touchdown by Chandler Jones to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Naturally, the knives came out for Jones, whose arm strength has been in question since he came into the league. The throw would've been 55 yards if the second-year quarterback had uncorked it from the line of scrimmage, which is a toss you'd think most NFL quarterbacks could make if they put everything into it.
When asked by "The Greg Hill Show" on Monday about the play, Belichick seemingly tried to walk back that characterization, though.
"No, I said it was too far. It's too far to throw on that play in that situation," he said when it was suggested Jones didn't have the arm to get the ball to the end zone.
For perspective, Mac Jones' longest completed air yards on a throw is 52.2 yards, according to NextGen Stats. Though he has shown himself capable of throwing the ball 60 yards -- again, most NFL quarterbacks can -- in practice and on air, it seems the Patriots didn't like the idea of him attempting that throw against an actual defense from that distance.
The one Hail Mary we've seen Jones attempt against the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 last season traveled about 55.5 yards in the air, which would've been enough to barely reach the end zone if Jones had thrown the ball at the line of scrimmage with momentum going forward. But the throw also didn't have much air under it and got picked off rather easily, which is hardly ideal for a Hail Mary try. Additionally, Jones was under pressure on the play, which the Patriots probably also wanted to avoid.
The bottom line: while Jones could've physically attempted that throw with hope that it could've made it to the end zone, too much had to go right in order for that happen in Belichick's mind. Of course, in hindsight, Patriots fans would rather have seen Jones let that loose instead of what we actually saw.
Also, Belichick has now opened up another can of worms about his quarterback that will have people questioning even more loudly if he's the Patriots' quarterback of the future.
