The Patriots have been outscored 72–3 over the last two weeks and are off to a 1-4 start, tying the team’s worst record through five games in Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach.
There are many reasons for New England’s poor start to the year, including bad offensive line play, a lack of a running game, the inability for receivers to separate at the line of scrimmage and the struggles of quarterback Mac Jones.
While there's plenty of blame to go around, as the team’s starting quarterback, Jones has stood out as a piece that needs improving.
But despite the fact that Jones has been benched in his past two outings once a comeback was out of reach, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien downplayed the idea that Jones needed a “mental break” and that the team might make a change under center.
Asked if he anticipated Jones starting this coming week against the Raiders, O'Brien responded simply, "I do."
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“There’s no time for mental breaks,” O’Brien continued with a smile. “Those are on your days off, I guess, you can take a little mental break. But it’s the grind of the season. In order to be in this league, as a coach, as a player, as anybody in this league, you have to be mentally tough. There’s a grind that goes to the league. It’s a 17 week grind. We all have to be mentally tough. The sun came up today. We’re gonna practice today and get after it and be fundamentally sound today and see what happens tomorrow."
New England heads to Las Vegas to take on former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and the Raiders on Sunday afternoon. The Patriots desperately need a road victory, and time will tell if the offense can right the ship with Jones under center on Sunday.
