Mac Jones talks the progression of an injured Patriots’ offensive line, and praises veteran leader David Andrews on a rainy day at training camp.
FOXBORO -- Mac Jones waited behind center, in the rain, for his first red-zone snap of the day. He soon had company.
Deatrich Wise. In Jones' personal space. Almost immediately. And had it not been for Jones' red non-contact jersey, he would've had an up-close look at just how saturated the Gillette Stadium practice fields had become after an afternoon of precipitation.
That was one of the themes of the day Monday, as Jones had defensive visitors in his backfield throughout the fully-padded practice. In all, the Patriots offensive line allowed what looked like it would have been nine sacks in 11-on-11 team periods with Jones or Bailey Zappe quarterbacking.
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The fix? Simple: Get healthy.
The Patriots could use presumed starter Trent Brown back on the field as soon as possible in order to have a smoother offensive operation, but he said Monday that he's been dealing with a physical ailment that has kept him out of practice. (The left tackle upped his participation a bit on Monday but remains a non-participant in competitive team periods.) Top guards Cole Strange (out since injuring his knee last week) and Mike Onwenu (physically unable to perform list) are also unavailable.
Brown said Monday he was "absolutely" hopeful he'll be able to play Week 1, but it seems as though the team is taking a cautious approach with a player who -- outside of Jones -- might be the most important individual on the roster. When he's not in action, presumed top right tackle Riley Reiff has taken Brown's spot on the left side. That has left McDermott, signed off the Jets practice squad a year ago, to take over on the right side.
Not only does all that shuffling rob the top group of reps together to see things through "the same set of eyes" when it comes to dealing with pressures, blitzes and stunts, it also impacts the quality of the reps the Patriots offense gets in practice.
There were four penalty flags thrown on the offensive line Monday by Land Clark's visiting officiating crew: a false start, an ineligible man downfield and two holds. And for two consecutive practices -- particularly with top pass-rusher Matthew Judon now a full participant -- the Patriots' defensive front has been borderline unblockable.
Davon Godchaux appeared to get the best of Reiff to win one 11-on-11 rep. Daniel Ekuale and Josh Uche seemed to record pressures on Andrews and McDermott, respectively. Christian Barmore got the best of James Ferentz once. Lawrence Guy picked up a couple of sacks working from the interior. Wise had two sacks in the span of five plays. Uche got into the backfield on a couple more occasions, once apparently sharing a sack with Judon.
Jones was on the move for much of the workout, scrambling to find space or extend plays. He had to hold onto the football at one point he was so swarmed, and he scrambled on two other occasions when pressured from the pocket.
Of course, Jones sang the praises of his protectors following Monday's work.
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"I think the offensive line is doing great," he said. "I think, right now, obviously there’s some injuries and stuff, but those guys are doing a great job trying to fight to keep the pocket clean, and it all starts with those guys. I feel like they’ve made a lot of progress...
"You never know when there’s going to be an injury in a game. You’ve just got to make it work. The five that are in there have to work together, and I feel like they’re doing a great job."
Keeping Jones protected when the games matter has to be the priority. If that means less Brown -- or less Onwenu, or less Strange -- now in order to get more of them later, that's sensible logic.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jones was 38th out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks last year when it came to quarterback rating when pressured (35.1). That figure jumped by more than 60 points (99.2) when he was kept clean. Per Sports Info Solutions, when pressured in 2022, Jones ranked 41st out of 41 qualifying quarterbacks in interception rate when pressured (7.5 percent). His sack rate (22.4 percent) when pressured was ninth, according to SIS, and only Matt Ryan (-124.9) lost more in the way of expected points than Jones (-112.0).
If the Patriots are going to start 2023 strong and eventually contend for the postseason, they're going to have to keep Jones upright. But how well they'll be able to do that is hard to say when the line they're trotting out there at the moment looks nothing like the one that they hope to have in September.
Number crunching
In competitive 11-on-11 periods, Jones went 10-for-14 but took six sacks. While Bill Belichick would tell you that the coverage and the pass-rush are always working in concert, none of these sacks seemed to be of the "coverage" variety. They were quick. One of Jones' incompletions was a drop from Kendrick Bourne. (Bourne appeared to have some issues in the rain, letting a couple that hit his hands during one-on-one periods fall to the turf.)
Zappe took three sacks of his own and threw a pick to Marcus Jones deep down the field when targeting Raleigh Webb. He went 9-for-16 with one rep wiped out by a hold. Zappe absorbed three sacks and had two passes batted at the line by Anfernee Jennings.
One of Zappe's incompletions looked like a drop in the end zone by Tyquan Thornton. (It was difficult from my angle to see if that pass to Thornton was batted down by Shaun Wade, but it looked like it bounced off the hip of its intended target.)
New look at the position
Malik Cunningham got extensive work at quarterback for the first time during Monday's session. Listed as a quarterback on the team's roster, he's been working primarily as a receiver during camp.
A prolific passer and runner at Louisville, the undrafted rookie clearly had no issue with trying to be creative in the open field. He has real quickness and acceleration, and he gave the quarterback position a different look.
The question is, was that a preview of what's to come on Thursday night when the Patriots and Texans square off? Or was he simply providing the Patriots defense with a preview of what it may see when Houston comes to town?
Play of the Day
There are a handful of contenders for this one, since Jones had a well-placed touch pass to Mike Gesicki over the middle of the field that went for a sizable gain. Jones also hit DeVante Parker down the sideline with rookie corner Isaiah Bolden in close coverage for a pickup of about 30 yards.
But it was Cunningham finding Kayshon Boutte in the end zone that has to go down as the winner. Cunningham's pass was off the mark -- high and behind -- but Boutte snared it reaching back over his head with one hand. Eye-opener.
Quote of note
"It’s awesome, man. He’s very athletic. He’s a smart kid; he works hard. He doesn’t get a lot of reps, but you can see when he’s in there that he’s a little bit of a playmaker. Maybe I can take some of his running ability and add it to my game." -- Mac Jones on Cunningham
