Bill Belichick sounds off on Mac Jones' progress as Patriots QB

New Englands Patriots quarterback Mac Jones won his first home NFL of his young career and notched his first 300-yard game in Sunday’s 54-13 win over the New York Jets. Head coach Bill Belichick believes it’s a sign of things to come.

“Well, I’d say about the whole team it is really true for Mac as well, he’s continued to get better every week and learned from practice experiences and game experiences,” Belichick said. “We’ll just keep going. There’s a lot to see in this league. You get a lot of different looks, a lot of great players, great coaches that really challenge us every week. It’s always a little bit different and it will certainly be a challenge this week with the Chargers and coach [Brendan] Staley. But, we’ll have to just continue to put in our preparation, our work and [Mac] does that very well. I think that’s why he’s continued to improve.”

Jones was 24-of-36 for 307 yards and two touchdowns in the win, to go with 19 rushing yards. Jones has been highly efficient all season, with a 70.4 completion percentage while throwing for 1,779 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. Jones has struggled with turnovers, throwing interceptions in all but three games. On the season, the Alabama product has six interceptions in total.

The Patriots drafted Mac Jones, Alabama’s national championship-winning quarterback, with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after a historic junior season leading the Crimson Tide. In his sole season as the starter at Alabama, Jones completed 77.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and four interceptions, leading the Crimson Tide to an undefeated national championship. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2020 but ultimately lost to his teammate, wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

The Patriots sit at 3-4 on the season with two wins over the Jets and one over the Texans. After a slow start, Mac Jones and the overhauled Patriots offense are growing more comfortable with each other and steadily improving.

Tight end Hunter Henry, formerly of the Los Angeles Chargers has had a touchdown in four straight games, averaging 11 yards per catch. Wide reciever Kendrick Bourne has come on strong recently as well. After a combined 27 yards in the first two games of the season, Bourne has recorded 323 yards and two touchdowns in five games. On the ground, Damien Harris has rushed for 437 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.

The Patriots travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers at 4:05 p.m. EST on Sunday.