Mac Jones confident heading into regular season as Patriots offense irons out preseason issues

FOXBORO -- After struggling through training camp and preseason, the Patriots offense has some work to do ahead of Week 1. A lot of work.

There will be a lot of self-scouting leading up to Sept. 11 in Miami, as Mac Jones and company continues to work on the new wrinkles that have been added to the offense. Those wrinkles have required a lot of ironing by Jones this summer, and that ironing continues with the regular season right around the corner.

The preseason did not go so well for the second-year quarterback, who was visibly frustrated in the two exhibition games that he played in. Last Friday night in Las Vegas, Jones looked uncomfortable in the pocket and was sacked four times. He also threw an awful interception in the middle of the field during the 23-6 loss.

The starting offense got seven drives in the preseason, and those drives resulted in just 10 points. They were mostly futile attempts, with four three-and-outs and that one terrible turnover. The run game was non-existent as the Patriots worked on their new outside zone approach, and that had a trickle down effect on the rest of the offense.

None of it looked good, and no one on the offense looked ready for the regular season. There have even been reports of players losing faith in the offense and the new looks this season.

But Jones remains confident that the unit will be able to put it all together soon. 

"I think we've ironed out a lot of things and it's good that they're happening now. I feel confident in what we're doing," the quarterback said Wednesday. "We just have to go out there and do it for 60 minutes, and that's just play-by-play. Obviously during practice, same thing, play-by-play, go out there and execute it and once you turn on the game film and you look back and there's 45, 50 good plays then hopefully you come out on top. But that's more about executing it and doing your job individually. If we all do that, 11 guys do it close to right every play, then you'll have a good play."

While the new run scheme has had mixed results (or rather, zero results), Jones isn't ready to scrap the approach just yet. The offense continues to work on it, and are beginning to understand it more and more, according to Jones.

"You can have a bad result with one and you're like, 'aw I don't really like that one,' but a lot of times it's more about the process of the play and what you're trying to do, so I don't think canning a play because it doesn't work one time in a game or practice is [a good] idea," said Jones. "Like I always say, I just like to know why, and when the coaches explain that to me, they've done a great job explaining, 'hey, this is why we're doing this,' and from there it's my job to execute it and do a great job. That's one of the things that I feel like we have ironed out. I'm very particular about what I'm supposed to do on each play and all of us are and we want to know as a receiver, where do I line up and what do I do. As a quarterback, what are my reads on this specific play. Everybody has their own job, but it's all about what you do on that play to make it a better play."

Jones had an excellent rookie season under the tutelage of Josh McDaniels. But with McDaniels now in Vegas, Jones is working with a committee of Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia, and Joe Judge. It's still a mystery who will be calling the offensive plays from the sideline, though it appears Patricia will get the honor.

Jones will also have plenty of input in the process, and will have the authority to call it likes he sees it at the line. He's confident in his ability to do that and make adjustments, not just at the line but throughout the game.

"I think it's all about your tools and problem solving. I tend to enjoy the problem solving part," he said. "That's the fun part of the game. We have good coaches that are going to put us in a position to do that. We have good experience with some of the looks we've seen last year and preseason. So it's all about what are my tools and how can I fix it? That's the big thing for me, just being able to apply that how I know how to do it and just play the play for what it is."

Jones and the Patriots have just over a week to get the offense in gear and ready for the Miami Dolphins. We'll see just how many of those concerning preseason wrinkles the offense is able to iron out when the regular season arrives on Sept. 11.