Bill Belichick on Mac Jones bouncing back this weekend: "Got to get up and go back in the ring"
FOXBORO -- Mac Jones had a bad day in Dallas last weekend. A real bad day.
Jones' three-turnover afternoon in New England's 38-3 loss to the Cowboys was his worst game as a pro, and led to Bill Belichick's worst loss in his storied NFL career. The defeat dropped the Patriots to 1-3 on the season and has cast some serious doubt on Jones' abilities to be New England's quarterback of the future.
It's a lot for anyone to deal with, but Belichick seems confident that his third-year QB will shake it off and bounce back Sunday against New Orleans.
"Anybody who plays or coaches in this league has not so good performances somewhere along the line. So, part of the job, part of the situation, every week's a new week," Belichick said Friday as New England prepares to host the 2-2 Saints this weekend.
"Mac's pretty mentally tough," Belichick added. "So is everybody else around here. I mean, you have to be in this league. If it just goes from bad to worse, then you're not going to be around very long. We all get knocked down, got to get up and go back in the ring."
Jones was in his own head last weekend, running around like a madman and making errant throws for three quarters before getting benched for Bailey Zappe. While the New England offensive line hasn't been great, Jones was a little too eager to run out of the pocket instead of waiting for plays to develop. That led to a strip-sack fumble by the Cowboys, which the Dallas defense returned for a touchdown.
Jones' uneasiness also led to him forcing back-foot throws that didn't need to be forced for much of his afternoon. His cross-field pass just before halftime was returned for a pick-six by Dallas.
The quarterback spent the week dusting himself off and learning from his Week 4 mistakes as he gets set to step back into the ring against a middling New Orleans defense. Jones expressed confidence in himself to have a good bounce-back performance when he spoke to reporters earlier this week.
"Confidence is something that comes from years of practice and it grows over time. I think that's what I have to look back on, is I've played well at times and I just have got to be more consistent," he said. "I know it's there."
Jones now has 11 games with multiple turnovers over his career -- regular season and postseason -- and is 5-3 in the games following those performances. (Two of those multi-turnover games ended New England's season: In the 2021 Wild Card round loss in Buffalo, and in Week 17 at Miami in 2022. He has a trio of three-interception games on his resume, with his first coming against the Saints in Week 3 of his rookie season.
The pressure is on for Jones to not just play well, but to also play a major part of a New England victory this weekend. If not, it will only get harder for the quarterback to get up and get back into the ring.
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