Tony Romo rips Mac Jones during Patriots-Raiders
The New England Patriots lost their third straight game on Sunday in what was the third consecutive poor outing from QB Mac Jones. One play was so rough, though, that it got quite the reaction out of CBS’ Tony Romo on the call.
As the Patriots got closer to halftime against the Las Vegas Raiders, New England was within the 30-yard line and had a solid chance at finding points. However, on second & four, Jones overthrew over TE Hunter Henry by a wide margin for a bad-looking interception straight to S Tre’von Moehrig.
“I mean he is open – Hunter Henry. This is just a horrendous throw by Mac Jones,” Romo stated. “I mean this one? He has a couple this year he wants back. But this is going to be right up there. Wide open Henry and he just misses him as he’s moving out.”
To be fair, this was the best of Jones’ last three games. He went 24-33 (72.7%) for 200 yards. With that said, he didn’t throw any touchdowns again on top of throwing this interception while also taking three sacks.
Over the past three losses, Jones is averaging 153.3 yards per game on a 61.5% completion rate. In total, he has thrown zero touchdowns over that stretch while also giving away five picks.
Jones came into this game on thin ice with how he has played this season, especially as of late. He didn’t help his case either with a missed pass like this in what ended up being a 21-17 loss in Sin City this weekend.
Patriots promote Malik Cunningham to active roster
The Patriots are making unusual moves with their quarterbacks again. On Saturday, New England elevated Malik Cunningham to their active roster, with plans on keeping him there the rest of the season.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network said that Cunningham, on top of the promotion, received a new three-year contract. And he’s no ordinary QB3. The Patriots signed the athletic Cunningham as an undrafted free agent out of Louisville back in April. During training camp, the Pats used him as both a quarterback and receiver.
In the past two games, Belichick benched starting QB Mac Jones. It’s basic football. If you go long stretches without scoring, you’re not doing your job.
Backup QB Bailey Zappe also isn’t showing much sizzle so Belichick doesn’t have many options. Enter Cunningham, who has innate scrambling ability. He also can run routes and be involved in the return game. No one is talking about Cunningham taking over the offense. Rather, maybe Belichick and OC Bill O’Brien have a package for him within the offense.
“Malik’s really worked hard and made a lot of improvement,” O’Brien told reporters. “He never really played in the kicking game at Louisville so he has started to show up there. Never played receiver. That didn’t look very good either in the spring, but I think he’s really improved there. He can catch the ball, but just route-running, finding zones, and things like that. But it’s come pretty naturally to him.
“And he plays a good amount of quarterback. He’s competent there. He’s a smart kid, he works hard, and the opportunities he’s had, he’s actually looked — he’s shown a lot of improvement doing them. It’s a little too early for an induction ceremony here, but it’s definitely a lot of improvement.”