Will Mac Jones return to his rookie form and overcome Patriots' offensive struggles?

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The past clip Mac Jones faced the Buffalo Bills, a 47-17 nonaccomplishment successful past season's wild-card round, helium was wrapping up a palmy rookie run that near small uncertainty helium was the New England Patriots' backmost of the future.

The teams conscionable again Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), but the speech surrounding Jones, the 15th wide prime successful past year's draft, has changed with the Patriots' discourtesy struggling for astir of the season.

How overmuch of it is connected Jones? Or the important coaching changes astir him? Or the changes to the Patriots' violative playbook?

"It's hard to ticker him this twelvemonth due to the fact that I don't deliberation they’re helping him retired precise much," said Matt Hasselbeck, an 18-year NFL backmost who present serves arsenic an expert connected ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. "I thought helium did a truly large occupation past twelvemonth -- the champion backmost successful his people -- and helium hasn't been astir arsenic bully this year."

Pro Football Hall of Fame backmost Kurt Warner, who works arsenic an expert for NFL Network, has been funny wherefore that is the case. So helium devoted his "Study Ball" movie breakdown this week to the Patriots' offense, asking the question, "Is the discourtesy mounting Mac back?"

One of Warner's conclusions: "Things haven't happened speedy capable for him. It has forced him to overthink things, to get done things excessively rapidly and marque a batch of atrocious decisions with the shot that helium didn't bash astir arsenic overmuch past year."

Warner took a heavy dive into the Patriots' 33-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings connected Thanksgiving, arguably Jones' champion crippled of the play (28-of-39, 382 yards, 2 touchdown passes, nary interceptions). He raises questions astir the Patriots' violative strategy and execution, saying: "It's astir timing and it's astir details, and that to maine is what this discourtesy is lacking much than thing else."

JONES THRIVED AS a rookie nether violative coordinator Josh McDaniels, who near aft the 2021 play to go the Las Vegas Raiders' caput coach. Jones started each crippled and finished 352-of-521 for 3,801 yards, with 22 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, "griddying" his mode into a Pro Bowl quality arsenic an alternate.

Former quarterbacks similar Hasselbeck liked what they saw, which is what has made this twelvemonth surprising.

"I cognize Mac Jones tin play. We saw it each past year," Hasselbeck said.

To capable McDaniels' void, Patriots caput manager Bill Belichick tapped erstwhile NFL caput coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, whose superior inheritance successful the NFL came connected defence and peculiar teams, respectively. Patricia calls successful the plays to Jones and Judge is the quarterbacks coach, but Belichick has made it wide that the subordinate stops with him.

Belichick besides oversaw a streamlining of the offense, which had grown successful measurement since his archetypal twelvemonth arsenic caput manager successful 2000 and with Tom Brady nether halfway for astir 2 decades. One extremity successful doing truthful was to let players to play faster.

But the Patriots person sunk to the bottommost of the NFL successful immoderate cardinal areas, specified arsenic successful the reddish zone, wherever they fertile 31st retired of 32 teams successful touchdown percent (12 of 31). Only the Denver Broncos are worse. The Patriots are besides 30th successful interception percentage, 26th successful sacks per walk play, 27th successful archetypal downs and 25th connected 3rd down.

Warner sees simplicity successful the Patriots' attack and wonders if it has negated 1 of Jones' champion assets.

"One of the things I loved astir Mac past twelvemonth is that he's truthful bully astatine processing information. Sometimes past twelvemonth I thought helium processed accusation too fast, meaning helium got disconnected definite reads excessively rapidly due to the fact that they hadn't developed," Warner told ESPN.com. "This year, I deliberation they've benignant of taken his superpower distant due to the fact that they've simplified everything."

Jones is 162-of-234 for 1,768 yards, with six touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. He missed 3 of the Patriots' 11 games with a precocious near ankle sprain, and past returned for a Week 7 location nonaccomplishment to the Chicago Bears successful which helium started and was pulled aft 3 series.

"I deliberation you person to situation him mentally. I deliberation you person to beryllium much originative with your offense, much originative successful the reddish zone, to springiness him much opportunities," Warner said. "I've wondered if that's thing that mightiness beryllium going connected with Mac -- is it hard for him to get excited and prepared erstwhile you person a crippled program that is truthful simplistic?"

Warner explained that helium experienced thing akin arsenic a subordinate successful his modulation from the Rams to the Giants -- having 220 walk plays disposable play to 60 successful New York (many of which were the same).

"I had to combat each week the mentation portion of it. That boredom. It challenged maine successful a mode of getting amended and truly being excited astir the game," helium said.

Hasselbeck saw signs of interest arsenic aboriginal arsenic the opening week of the play -- a 20-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

"I said this astatine the commencement of our amusement this season, aft the Miami game, I was precise captious of what I saw schematically. It was astonishing to maine that it was the Patriots," helium said. "It feels similar they're learning connected the alert offensively."

One happening Hasselbeck believes has been missing excessively often is simply a speedy checkdown to get Jones retired of trouble. As a result, helium thinks Jones has been forced to instrumentality unnecessary sacks.

"That is simply a existent large happening to me. I deliberation 1 of the hidden things astir Tom Brady, 1 of the things helium ever did well, is incorporated the moving backs into the passing crippled -- whether it was checkdown, oregon they were the archetypal read, oregon whatever. The Patriots started retired this play and they truly did not bash that. I conscionable deliberation they’re getting determination [now]."

Hasselbeck pointed to a 40-yard fourth-quarter surface walk to moving backmost Rhamondre Stevenson past week arsenic a motion of imaginable optimism.

TEAMMATES HAVE TAKEN enactment of however Jones has handled himself passim a turbulent season. At 1 constituent during the nonaccomplishment to the Bears, the crippled erstwhile Jones returned from the ankle injury, location fans chanted for backup Bailey Zappe to regenerate him.

"It wasn't arsenic casual for him this year. He had a unsmooth patch. People looked down connected him for a second, but helium stayed the aforesaid feline the full mode done successful the locker room," receiver Jakobi Meyers said. "Just seeing that resilience to him, the respect has grown."

"This twelvemonth has been pugnacious astatine times, conscionable going done an injury, battling his mode back," added seasoned choky extremity Hunter Henry. "The person helium is; we conscionable proceed to thrust him. ... I'm gladsome he's our quarterback."

Patricia, the violative play-caller, said Jones has impressed him arsenic well.

"I deliberation helium matures each azygous week with the mode helium sees the game, the mode helium plays the game, and the mode helium understands from a squad standpoint however we request to play a crippled each week," helium said.

"He's precise smart. He's got large ideas. He truly helps everything, from each the antithetic positions, propulsion it each together. I admit being capable to beryllium astir him and enactment with idiosyncratic similar that, who puts truthful overmuch into it."

While Patricia was reluctant to telephone Jones' show past week a breakthrough, successful portion due to the fact that it came successful a loss, determination person been notable signs of betterment of late.

Jones, who highlighted the "effort and toughness" of the offense, hasn't thrown an interception successful his past 3 games aft having astatine slightest 1 successful each of his archetypal 5 games this season. Hasselbeck besides thought Jones expertly handled immoderate drawback issues from halfway against the Vikings, which tin beryllium "like eating a vessel of cereal with your other hand."

As for wherever things spell from here, Hasselbeck said 1 crushed for optimism is Belichick's way record. He points to a play helium calls "Patriot pass" -- a hard tally enactment with a pulling defender earlier the backmost looks down the tract -- arsenic thing they tin physique around.

"This coaching unit is precise intelligent, adjacent though they don't person a ton of acquisition seeing things done the backmost lens, which I judge is truly important," helium said. "They're inactive successful the playoff hunt and possibly they tin enactment it together. You conscionable person to find thing to bent your chapeau on."

Hasselbeck and Warner inactive judge that Jones is simply a promising backmost to physique around.

"No doubt. He's not the problem," Hasselbeck said.

"I person to deliberation what I saw past twelvemonth is much of who Mac Jones is," Warner added. "I deliberation determination are a batch of things going connected this twelvemonth that it's hard for maine to dive successful and justice Mac connected what I've seen. I'm not going to bash it, due to the fact that I deliberation determination are a fig of issues successful their offense, they're not playing to his strengths.

"So I inactive clasp connected to what I saw past year. Somehow they person to get him backmost to that, to situation him successful a mode that his top strengths travel out. I don't deliberation they're doing that close present -- and with that, they're not getting the aforesaid quarterback."