Mac Jones Pushes Back On This Popular Patriots Narrative
During the lead-up to Sunday’s loss in Las Vegas, multiple outlets reported support for Mac Jones within the Patriots’ locker room was dwindling.
The strongest of those reports came from the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan, who relayed that “at least a few, but probably many” members of New England’s organization were “firmly out” on the third-year quarterback.
Jones pushed back on those rumors, confidently saying during an interview with WEEI’s “Jones & Mego with Arcand” that he still believes he has the support of his teammates.
“Yeah, I do,” Jones said one day after the Patriots lost to the Raiders 21-17 at Allegiant Stadium to fall to 1-5 on the season. “I have a lot of respect for the guys on our team. I’ve been with these guys for, some of them, three years, and some of them I played with in college or whatnot. I do feel like I have a lot of respect from the guys.
“There’s a lot of things I want to do better as a player, and that’ll really change some things. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to keep working, they’ve got to keep working, and I know they will, just like we all are. I know it sucks and it’s frustrating, but at the same time, you’ve got to keep going forward and see who wants to battle.”
Jones then was asked whether he’s worried about losing that support if the Patriots continue to struggle. They were far more competitive Sunday than they were in their previous two games but still scored just 17 points and couldn’t beat a Raiders team that lost starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo at halftime.
Former Patriots backup Brian Hoyer guided Vegas to victory as New England suffered its third consecutive loss and fifth in six games. Jones went 24-for-33 for 200 yards and no touchdowns with one interception in an improved performance.
“I don’t focus on that stuff,” Jones replied. “I really just focus on showing up to work every day, trying to be positive, really just working hard and finding out answers to the test. There’s a lot of things that will pop up, and my goal is to figure out, how do we solve those problems?
“It’s all about problem-solving, and we just have to continue to do that. Every week is different. Obviously, there’s a lot of things we need to do better.”
The Patriots, who lack talent on the offensive line and at wide receiver and have been hammered by injuries this season, now face difficult AFC East matchups against the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins in Weeks 7 and 8. They’ve beaten the Bills just once since Tom Brady’s 2020 departure and haven’t won in Miami since 2019.