Mac Jones focused day-to-day despite Tom Brady's return to New England

Tom Brady’s return to Foxboro will dominate headlined throughout the northeast and across the NFL as the seven-time Super Bowl champion faces his old friend Bill Belichick. Despite all the talk about Tom Brady, rookie starter Mac Jones is focused on the day-to-day operations.

“I think just fixing the corrections from the game we just played is obviously really important and then moving on with the game plan for this week,” Jones said during a radio interview with WEEI in Boston. “It will definitely be exciting. Tampa Bay is a great team and it is a new week. We’re excited and the only thing we can do is focus on each day and then when Sunday comes we’ll just go out there and play as hard as we can. It will be good.”

Through his first three games, Mac Jones has posted 737 passing yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He has completed 67.5 percent of his passes and ran for 28 yards in the opening weeks.

The Patriots are coming off a blowout loss in Week Three to the New Orleans Saints. The team, and Jones in particular, struggled to find consistency and committed an unprecedented number of unforced errors. Now 1-2 through the first three weeks, a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could provide the lift needed to put New England back in the playoff picture.

More on Tom Brady’s return

Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady spent 20 years in New England before parting ways in 2020. After bring drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, the former Michigan star went on to become a three-time MVP and 14-time Pro Bowler. With six Super Bowl titles as the Patriots starting quarterback, he has cemented himself as the greatest player in franchise history.

After leaving, debates raged on over who deserved more credit for the Patriots dynasty, Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. Both have played down the controversy but a weight fell on Brady’s side of the scales last season when he led a Buccaneers team, which struggled under Jameis Winston, to a Super Bowl title in year one.

After one year with Cam Newton in control of the offense, Belichick and the Patriots decided draft Mac Jones in the first round and hand him the keys to the offense, hoping he can be the next Tom Brady.

Side note

Also making a return to Foxboro is former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement to join Brady in Tampa Bay last season. Gronkowski was a part of four Super Bowls in New England and played a key role in last year’s win for the Buccaneers.