Mac Jones’ rookie season had been defined by his ability to get better seemingly every week. Even when he and the New England Patriots have misstepped, they rebounded in the following week with clear improvements.
But these last two weeks, Jones and the Patriots have looked lost for answers after consecutive losses to the Indianapolis Colts and the Buffalo Bills — both of which looked like superior teams. It made people wonder whether the rookie wall might be hindering Jones, who played 13 games in college football last season and is entering his 16th game in the NFL. There’s a sense that rookies run out of momentum at the end of the year, having never endured the NFL’s 17-game season.
McDaniels outright rejected that idea.
Is Mac Jones hitting the rookie wall?
Josh McDaniels: He’s doing fine. No concern on that…He’s ready to go. He wants to finish the season strong. pic.twitter.com/279PanFYSp
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) December 28, 2021
What else could be contributing to Jones’ regression? He has faced two of the NFL’s best defenses during the team’s two-game skid. The Bills have allowed the fewest passing yards per game in the NFL and third-fewest points. They have also generated the third-most takeaways. The Colts have the second-most takeaways while allowing 16th-fewest passing yards per game and 11th-fewest points. So that’s a necessary piece of context.
Whatever the reason, the Patriots need to get Jones back to playing at a more consistent level — or else they’re unlikely to have any postseason success.
