In Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals as both time and the series began to slip away from the Celtics, I vividly remember watching Doc Rivers during a fourth-quarter timeout preaching to and pleading with his players. “This is it,” he shouted pointedly and passionately. Translated – guys, it’s slipping away, it’s now or never.
That moment occurred to me more than once recently, as I have been reflecting on the state of the Patriots’ starting quarterback, Mac Jones, and where he finds himself in real time during this Week 10 bye.
What are the Pats' top priorities during the bye?
That simple Doc Rivers quote -- “This is it” -- seems to fit Jones’ current standing well. With all hyperbole aside, this could end up being the most important bye week of young Mac’s NFL career.
If you’ve listened to me on-air of late on WEEI Late Night Friday night, then you know, I haven’t been kind to Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia or Joe Judge in terms of the position they have and haven’t put Mac Jones in. In his critical second year of development, Belichick and his trusted henchmen Patricia and Judge have not set the young man up for success.
The communication has been convoluted, the play-calling lacks creativity, consistency and flow, amongst other issues like failed protection. This has been the case since the earliest stages of training camp right through current day. The result thus far hasn’t been a lack of progress but rather, a complete regression from what was not so long ago, the teams’ most prized asset: Mac Jones.
Jones didn’t create the problems, but he’s living within them and despite the Patriots 5-4 record, it hasn’t been a healthy living situation on offense. So here we sit at the bye week and while much continues to hang in the balance for the Patriots and the state of their offense, nobody on the roster has more to lose and less to gain than Mac Jones.
It’s time to reset.
I’ve said this on-air recently and written it right in this space: Jones is a thinker and that’s not always a good thing.
As I wrote, thinking in terms of preparation is good, but thinking instead of reacting on the field is not. Jones has been guilty of that too often lately and though much of the Patriots’ offensive futility isn’t his fault, he is the leader on the field and needs to execute better. As his head coach might say, “It is what it is.”
So this time off is important, not to think or reflect but to reset. With more time than usual in between games for someone who seems to be living in his own head a little too much, this could be a dangerous time. Jones doesn’t need more time in his own head but rather needs to find his way back to what he does best and what led him to win 10 games last year.
Whatever that process is for Jones, he needs to find it during this break and use it as an opportunity to restart his season. Otherwise, what was once thought of as a promising young career not so long ago, could take a harsh turn in the wrong direction.
This happens a lot to young and talented quarterbacks. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Christian Ponder and David Carr come to mind as recent examples. For those with more grey hair, think about how it started for Jim Plunkett and how painfully long and unsuccessful his career was until he found his great redemption in Oakland a decade later. There’s a long list of QBs that have taken that wrong left turn and frankly, in terms of what we’re seeing on Sundays in New England, it’s trending the wrong way.
The play of the offensive line has been brutal, but at the same time he’s getting the ball out far less quickly. This is documented. The scheme that Josh McDaniels once perfected is operating without the pace and fluidity that were its hallmarks for so many years. The timing of the entire offense is off and the once air tight communication between quarterback and wide receiver is inconsistent at best. Worse, Mac’s accuracy looks nothing like the player we saw during most of the 2021 season.
Is it all Matt Patricia and Joe Judge’s fault? Even though I desperately want to say yes, the reality is that Mac has plenty to be accountable for himself. This looks and feels like a crisis of confidence and from there many of the issues outlined above manifest. A lack of confidence in the play call and the play caller is one thing but when that translates into poor field vision, slower reads and inaccuracy from the man charged to move the ball down the field, then the problems get harder to fix.
It’s Week 10, the bye week and this is the best opportunity to fix these many problems. As a wise man and championship winning coach once said… “This is it.”
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