Patriots

The bye-week brings a ‘full audit’ of Mac Jones as Patriots try to fix offense

The Patriots quarterback reflects on his performance from head to toe.

By Khari Thompson

November 16, 2022

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Some might call it soul searching. Others may call it deep reflection.

As the Patriots look to jumpstart their offense ahead of Sunday’s rematch with the Jets, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones described his bye-week as a time for a “full audit” of himself from head to toe.

“I think a lot of us are working on different things every day and the bye week is a great time to do that,” Jones told reporters Wednesday. “For me, it’s making sure my feet and eyes are in the right place and continuing to go through my reads and continuing to improve in the weight room, nutrition, all that stuff. So it’s a full audit of yourself I guess you could call it.”

Jones said that he’s encouraged by the adjustments the Patriots are making. But, New England is still searching for its offensive identity more than halfway through the season.

The Patriots have clearly regressed on offense compared to last season. New England is in the bottom third of the league in yards per game. Only three teams, the Saints, Bills, and Colts, have given up as many turnovers as the Patriots so far.

Some of that is to be expected without longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who left to coach the Las Vegas Raiders. The Patriots are running a new system with new offensive coaches and a second-year quarterback.

“I think it’s constantly trying to find the identity,” Jones said. “Every offense is finding that through the year… We’ve got to work through that. At the end of the day we know what we want to do. We need to score more points and eliminate the turnovers and negative plays. That’s kind of where we’re at.”

Adding offensive lineman David Andrews, who has been out since suffering a concussion in the Bears game, should help the Patriots who are nearly back at full strength.

New England only had one player, defensive lineman DaMarcus Mitchell, miss practice on Wednesday. The only offensive player listed on the injury report was receiver DeVante Parker, who was a limited participant due to a knee injury.

The time off also helped Jones, who missed several weeks with a high-ankle sprain.

“I think it was good for everybody,” Jones. “In the NFL, obviously when you get your bye-week you get a chance to rest your body, your mind, whatever that is. For me, that definitely helped. Other guys are dealing with other stuff, they got the rest they needed, so we’re excited for this one.”

Jones said he feels good about the progress he made during his audit. Now it’s time to apply the knowledge he’s gained.

“I think a lot of things are personal to me, things that I want to keep to myself,” Jones said. “There are a lot of things that I can improve, footwork, timing, eyes, all that stuff which I’m trying to improve every week regardless. Definitely purring an extra emphasis on it and trying to match up everything.”