The Mac Report: Jones showing he has ownership over complex system

FOXBORO -- Everyone's doing it. And we're guilty of it, too. It's almost impossible not to look at the product the Patriots offense has put on the field in training camp practices and compare it to last year.

But maybe the year to look at that would be most instructive when it comes to the 2023 Patriots offense -- and especially Mac Jones' effectiveness within it -- is 2021. Jones' rookie year. With offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels at the helm. 

NFL folks will tell you that while Jones still has a long way to go before he establishes himself as a high-end face-of-the-franchise starter, what he did as a rookie was impressive. Not just based on the fact that his team won 10 games and made the playoffs. Not based on his numbers. 

But because he stepped into a complex system and handled it. 

"He ran that offense," said one AFC offensive assistant. "It was a pared-down version of what they were doing with Tom (Brady), but there was still a lot to it. And he deserves credit for being able to run it. That's not easy for a young quarterback."

"With Josh he looked good," said an NFC offensive coordinator. "On a mediocre football team he looked solid. Very few quarterbacks have played well early in Josh's system. Because it's hard. It puts a lot on the quarterback. Derek Carr didn't play well. St Louis (in 2011) was a wreck. It's impressive [Jones] went in and played well right away. He sees the game. He understands the tools he had at his disposal. You can tell he's a smart kid. He has that."

The ownership over the Patriots offense in 2021 is something he's starting to flash in this summer's training camp. On Thursday, he made a series of hand signals and apparent adjustments at the line of scrimmage in the red zone. Once the ball was snapped, he dropped quickly, knew his read, found Kendrick Bourne on a deep out-route, and put his team on the goal line.

The ability to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage was something Jones was encouraged to do as a rookie from the moment he began working with McDaniels. That was something the coaching staff wanted him to do less last summer as a new offense was installed with Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge leading the way.

Now with Bill O'Brien aboard, it appears as though the new offensive coordinator trusts Jones to take the reins of the offense when needed. And he's giving Jones the answers -- the "why" he was openly pining for last season -- he needs to make smart choices at the line of scrimmage.

"OB lays out the operation times, what we're trying to get out of a play, all that stuff, the why behind a play," Jones said. "He definitely lays it all out there. We've just got to go out there and try, each day, to clean it up each day and then also get a little bit faster, too, right? You want to play fast, you want to be precise and all that as well."

Jones added: "I do think that this system allows a quarterback – it puts a lot on their plate. But it also allows us to know what to do to play really fast. I think it's a great system."

Number crunching

Jones went 16-for-21 with an interception thrown to Kyle Dugger in competitive team periods on Thursday. Jones was able to open things up a bit more than he had in previous practices. One of his best throws of training camp was an in-the-bucket corner route to Tre Nixon near the left sideline with Jabrill Peppers in coverage. He also hit Kendrick Bourne on a deep out (described above) and he should've had a long completion to DeVante Parker on a jump ball but Parker dropped it.

One of Jones' best throws of the shorter variety? A quick slant to JuJu Smith-Schuster near the goal line that was threaded through traffic. That connection is developing nicely over the last few practices.

Vision in focus

In the last couple of practices, Jones has had an odd habit of scanning left to right and then pulling the trigger on a pass that ends up floating into coverage. In a 7-on-7 period on Day 6, he threw one right to Marcus Jones that was broken up by JuJu Smith-Schuster to prevent the interception. On Day 8, he targeted Demario "Pop" Douglas despite a couple of defenders waiting in the same area to pounce on the throw, and it was broken up by Jonathan Jones.

Was Mac Jones trying to force something into an area because it's practice and that's when you attempt those types of things? Was he not seeing the coverage late in his progression? The reality is those types of throws are likely a result of a combination of factors, but just felt noteworthy. Will be interesting to see how he handles those situations in joint practices later this summer. In all likelihood, in a game, both situations would've led to throwaways.

Protection problem?

Jones was "sacked" on four reps Thursday. Three of them came in a seven-snap span during the two-minute drill so perhaps the offensive line -- which was without Trent Brown, Mike Onwenu (PUP), Cole Strange and Calvin Anderson (NFI) -- was gassed.

Not as rocky as the five-sack performance the second-team offensive line posted for Bailey Zappe on Day 8. But it's worth keeping a close eye on how Jones' protection holds up moving forward, particularly at tackle since Conor McDermott and Riley Reiff have at times during camp looked overwhelmed by the speed of players like Josh Uche, Matt Judon (in the few non-padded reps he's taken), Deatrich Wise and rookie Keion White.

On the interior, David Andrews has been steady. Rookie Atonio Mafi (right guard recently) and second-year man Kody Russey (left guard recently) have appeared to hold up well.