Texas’s Arlington (AP) Mac Jones, the quarterback for the New England Patriots, fumbled deep in his own territory, but his facemask was buried in the turf, preventing him from seeing the score.
Perhaps he didn’t notice the cornerback who picked him off just before halftime, or the defensive lineman who was after him at the moment.
After committing three turnovers in the final minutes of the Patriots’ 38-3 defeat against the Cowboys on Sunday, Jones was benched. Dallas scored touchdowns as a direct result of two of them, making this New England’s worst defeat in Bill Belichick’s twenty-four seasons.
Belichick repeatedly said, “I didn’t think there was any point in leaving him in the game,” in response to questions about Jones’ play and the future prospects of the third-year quarterback.He said, “I don’t think any of us played or coached well enough today.”
For the third year in a row, the Patriots have finished with a losing record; this is the result of Jones’s transition from rookie to starting quarterback.
Early in the second quarter, Dante Fowler of the Cowboys, who had come from around the end, hit Jones from behind, knocking the ball away and taking the quarterback to the ground. Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch recovered the fumble 11 yards. When the touchdown was scored, Jones was underneath Fowler, face down.
Then, just before the half, cornerback DaRon Bland moved in front of the receiver as Jones attempted a deep completion to Kendrick Bourne. Bland recovered the interception 54 yards for a score and a 28-3 advantage at the break.
Jones said, “Definitely a lot to learn from.” “I am very disappointed with myself.”
Belichick, who went into the game hoping to become only the third NFL head coach in history to surpass 300 regular-season victories, had never before faced a deficit of 25 points at halftime. George Halas with 318 and Don Shula with 328 are the 300-game winners.
With 3:41 remaining in the third quarter and Jones replaced by second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe, New England was down 31-3. Zappe, who completed 4 of 9 passes for 57 yards, was playing for the first time this season.
Despite finishing with 253 total yards, the Patriots are only scoring 13 1/2 points a game on average. Their lone victory came against the New York Jets last week, 15-10.
Jones, who now has a 17–18 record as the Patriots starter, was 12-of-21 throwing for 150 yards versus Dallas with two interceptions. This season, the 2021 Alabama first-round selection has passed for 898 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions.
“It’s best for me to just bury it, try to move on, learn from it, and just don’t let it become another loss,” Jones said. “We just continued working, and I just wanted to play better, and that’s what I have to do here. My rookie year didn’t start off well. And in my opinion, it needs to be much better.
After a 1-3 start and a 1-3 end to the regular season, New England finished 10-7 in his inaugural year. His lone postseason start was lost by them.
Jones said, “I’m going to keep working hard and hopefully the guys will come along with me.”
Similar to Belichick, his colleagues asserted that the rookie quarterback is not the only one to blame.
“I believe that after a performance such as that, we all struggle with confidence. It’s a cooperative game. David Andrews, the center, said that it’s not simply his responsibility.
“I have complete faith in Mac. Deatrich Wise Jr., a defensive lineman, said, “Listen, Mac is a worker, he’s a competitor.” He’s spent the last three years here. He has a history of creating some excellent plays. This is one of those games that appeared out of nowhere. But we’re still not far behind him. I really believe in him.
