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The 2022 NFL regular season hasn’t treated New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones kindly but NFL hall of famer and current analyst Michael Irvin doesn’t believe it is the players fault.
The second-year quarterback has dealt with injuries and poor performances. Jones is 3-3 this season and has thrown for 1,140 yards, four touchdowns, and seven interceptions per Pro Football Reference.
After a Week 10 bye week, Jones will be looking to end the season on a high note. If he is able to so, it might be in spite of his coaching staff.
Irvin believes that Matt Patricia and the Patriots coaching staff is to blame for the quarterback’s regression.
“That blows my mind. You know how they say basics is 101? This is before the 101,” Irvin declared. “This is not English 101, math 101.
Timing up routes with depth of routes and depth of drops, that’s even before 101. It’s that basic. And to see [ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky] call that out on some plays, where he had a three-step drop, he hitched one time and nobody is ready to come out of a route. There is no timing. That blows my mind man. That doesn’t look like anything that Bill Belichick has let go on. That’s not on Mac Jones. When you talk about Mac Jones’ regression, that’s not on Mac Jones. You see what I’m saying? You’re seeing the results and it looks like a regression. That is impossible. That’s on somebody else in there, whoever is designing those things.”
Why Is Patricia to Blame?
As the play-caller of the New England offense, the failures of the unit fall on Patricia’s shoulders. The decision to give Patricia the keys to the Patriots offense has Irvin questioning Belichick.
“I said I’ve never questioned anything Bill Belichick has done, this is the first time that I said, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God, man. What is that?’” Irvin said of Belichick’s decision to put the offense in Patricia’s hands this year. “Ooof. It’s impossible. It’s not…this ship…how did you even win the games you won with what I’m seeing now and what [Orlovsky] just pointed out? That’s the question.”
How Does Jones Feel About the Patriots Offense?
As the Patriots prepare for a Week 11 matchup with the New York Jets, New England’s quarterback is confident in the offensive unit after looking at how the unit could improve during the bye week.
”Yeah. I think every staff around the league, at any league, they’re working through things during the bye week,” he said. “You obviously have your identity in what you want to be and how you can get there. There’s some things you can improve during the bye week. So we want to continue to improve every week. Then obviously in the bye week too. But now it’s kind of focused on the Jets and how can we get ready for this game. So definitely good to do that and look at yourself, like we talked about earlier, and then obviously as a team and as an offense, defense, special teams. You get a chance to kind of do that audit.”