Mac Jones ‘not bothered’ by the short leash the Patriots have on him owing to a series of poor performances

Despite the dreadful start to the season Jones' aim is to do better each week and push for the win

Mac Jones ‘not bothered’ by the short leash the Patriots have on him owing to a series of poor performances

Mac Jones opens up about recent string of bad results and tough times (Image via IMAGO)

Mac Jones can’t catch a break. His season has begun more or less the same way it ended in January with a loss. But the recent string of bad results seemed to be tasting the patience of not just the New England Patriots fans but also head coach Bill Belichick.

Jones’ luck ran out during the Dallas Cowboys game, in which Belichick’s men recorded their worst-ever point tally in an NFL game. It was clear the veteran coach had seen enough poor quarterback play that he decided to make a change in the third quarter.

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Just when the Boston crowd thought the situation wouldn’t get any worse, it got worse. In front of a packed Gillette Stadium, their beloved Patriots failed to trouble the score at all against the New Orleans Saints. With this miserable result, Bill Belichick had the worst start to a season since he took over at Foxborough back in 2000.

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Then the news came from close sources in the Patriots front office that Mac Jones will be on a ‘tight leash’ going into the week 6 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. They lost a closely fought contest 21-17, and Jones stayed on the entire time. Well, if they had known his last-second safety would cost them their second victory of the season, then things could have been different.

Nevertheless, Jones recorded a decent day, touching the 200 passing yards mark since the win over the New York Jets. Did the report of being on a ‘short leash’ make things difficult for him? He outright denied it.

“No. I don’t really pay attention to that stuff,” the 25-year-old said during a recent appearance on WEEI’s ‘Jones & Mego with Arcand. ‘”Every week is different. I just want to go out there and try to execute a little bit better each week and get better.”

Related: Why does Stephen A. Smith hate the Cowboys so much?

Mac Jones believes in shutting the outside noise out

The scenario gets tougher when a player transitions from college football to the bigger leagues. More often than not, they struggle to adapt to the more physical and pacier side of the game. Dominating with the college team doesn’t guarantee he will be able to do the same in the NFL.

Mac Jones ‘not bothered’ by the short leash the Patriots have on him owing to a series of poor performances
Jones is playing his third season with the New England Patriots (Image via FOX)

Mac Jones, on the other hand, managed to convince everyone with his rookie-year performance and even made the Pro Bowl. It has been downhill since then, and three years later, people are starting to get frustrated with the constant bad performances from the former Crimson Tide.

Even with all the rising animosity around him, Jones’ best bet is to not listen to all the negative chatter in the media. “I try not to focus on all of the emotions from the outside,” he said. “I really just focus on the team because I care about the team. We want to do better. We’re trying.”

It’s true that every play starts and ends with the quarterback. But that doesn’t mean that one position is the be-all and end-all. He needs players around, especially on the offensive line, which is one of the worst in the league. Jones has already been sacked 12 times in six games and takes at least 10 hits on every outing.

If the Patriots want to start winning games again, Jones needs better protection. Or else it’s back to the dark ages once more.

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