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Let’s get this out of the way: Mac Jones has been far from perfect this season. In particular, he has turned the ball over too often (though he hasn’t done so the last two weeks), and he generally hasn’t looked comfortable operating this new Patriots offense. (To be fair, though, Tom Brady would probably look worse in this “system” as well.)
Sunday was probably his best game of the season given the circumstances he played under (and the fact that he didn’t throw a pick against a stingy Jets defense), completing 23 of 27 passes for 246 yards. But even then, he was dogged by pressure and got taken down six times, and a few of those sacks were critical in terms of points taken off the board.
But Pro Football Focus has a message for those who blame those sacks largely on Jones’ inability to throw the football or escape the pocket: don’t.
PFF tracks how much pressure quarterbacks are responsible for versus their offensive lines, tight ends, running backs, etc. Their metrics have Mac Jones responsible for the eight-lowest rate of pressure allowed on him (8.2 percent). In particular, he’s listed as being responsible for just five of the 61 pressures against him and four of the 21 sacks he’s taken (28th and 16th in the NFL, respectively).
His offensive line, on the other hand, has some responsibility in 96.7 percent (!!) of the pressures against Jones – the highest mark in the NFL by more than two percentage points, per PFF. (Matthew Stafford is second at 94.6.)
Sunday’s game was a microcosm of that. There were two snaps on which Jones reasonably could’ve been expected to get the ball out before being sacked, and even those plays featured his offensive line losing so quickly he almost would have had to abandon his reads and predetermine a checkdown from the beginning. That’s not what any coach would or should ask him to do.
The rest fell more into the category of “What do you want him to do here?” than “What are you doing, Mac?!” If he were running around in circles like Zach Wilson and dancing into sacks, being upset with those sacks would be more understandable. But he’s not, and he can’t just chuck the ball out of bounds two seconds into a play because pressure is coming. (Especially not if he’s in the pocket. Intentional grounding exists. Don’t forget.)
It’s fair to look at Jones and wonder if he’s the long-term answer for this team given what you’ve seen this year and what’s around him.
But at least blame Jones for the right things. Sacks largely haven’t been part of that equation.
