1. Going into Sunday’s game against the Bills, some, mostly in the national media, have put a lot on Mac Jones. Jones is coming off a mostly poor performance in the loss to the Colts last week and those pundits believe he needs to be a lot better. But does he? Over the Patriots’ seven-game win streak, Jones and the offense was successful because of the running game and not turning the ball over. All Jones needs to do the rest of the season and in the playoffs is protect the football and not turn the ball over, which he had issues with against the Colts (two interceptions). Expecting Jones to throw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns just isn’t realistic, especially given who the Patriots have at wide receiver. Jones only has two games of 300 or more passing yards this season. The rookie throwing the ball all around the field hasn’t been what’s led the Patriots to victories. As long as Jones takes care of the football and puts the Patriots in the best calls at the line of scrimmage, there’s not much more to be asked of him.
2. Speaking of Jones, the rookie took care of his offensive linemen with gifts on Friday following practice. “He did an outstanding job,” Ted Karras told reporters. “We got a big haul over here. I’ll let him explain everything that he got, but it’s a myriad of items, each one cooler than the next. One of the best efforts, especially by a rookie, to show us appreciation and wish us a Merry Christmas. So I’m very thankful to him and very glad to be his teammate here in this Christmas season.” We’ll have to wait until after the game Sunday to hear exactly what Jones got the guys who protect him.
3. Bill Belichick will coach in his 800th NFL game on Sunday (regular season and playoffs), which is really a remarkable feat. This is his 47th consecutive year as an NFL coach, which is the most in NFL history, two more than the 45 by Dick LeBeau. The only other NFL coach with at least 40 consecutive coaching seasons is Tom Moore with 41. One of his greatest strengths is changing and evolving with the times, which is continues to do to this day.
4. Following Belichick’s press conference after the loss last Saturday night where he was very short with the media (but not any different than following past losses), the Patriots coach was very good, and different, with the media this week. It started with him apologizing Monday morning and then going in-depth on why he opted to kick a field goal in the fourth quarter and not go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 7-yard line. He also offered up he believed T.Y. Hilton should have been ejected for making contact with an official. And then despite being under the weather, he was very pleasant with all his answers Friday. Everyone has their different reasons for the change, but maybe it’s as simple as just mellowing out a bit as he gets older.
5. COVID has been a major issue in the NFL the past two weeks or so and fortunately the Patriots have done a good job of avoiding it, for the most part. The organization has done what it can to get ahead of it as much as possible, as even before the league changed its rules Patriots players were wearing masks inside the facility and even put up a wall in the weight room last weekend.
6. When it comes to the postseason, the Titans showed they are a team to be feared with their performance Thursday night against the 49ers. Missing three of their offensive lineman, the Titans came away with a 20-17 win, led by A.J. Brown. The receiver returned from injured reserve and finished with 11 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. There’s also the potential for Derrick Henry to return for the postseason and if that happens, that instantly puts them as the favorites in the AFC.
7. The Patriots will host the Jaguars this coming Sunday, so get ready for a lot of over the top praise of the Jaguars from Belichick this week. This is usually the approach for him when the Patriots are facing a well below average team. It’s been a brutal year for the Jaguars, including having Urban Meyer fired a few weeks ago. One storyline that will come up a bunch is Josh McDaniels potentially being a candidate for the job.
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