THAT MAC IS A ‘PEASHOOTER’
As Harrison said, take a few shots to keep the defense honest. If Jones connects, great. If not, message sent that the Patriots aren’t afraid to have him make those throws.
Ryan’s remarks aside, Jones will get there. He might not have a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen-type arm, but that won’t necessarily determine how he fares in the NFL. To succeed, he just has to take full advantage of the assets he does have, namely his brain.
And along with his intelligence, he’s very good at many of the other important elements of being a quarterback. His arm strength will improve once he bulks up a bit.
One noted NFL throwing coach also believes Jones can get better in that area. But right now, he’s working from close to the bottom rung on the ladder when it comes to “having competitive arm strength and talent.”
According to that coach, Jones still isn’t quite ready to “not only reach, but attack the boundaries or vertical areas of the field” with regularity.
That should change with time. The bottom line here, is the Patriots’ first-round pick has already performed above expectations.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy certainly sounded impressed when he spoke with the New England media about Jones on Thursday.
“I think he looks very, very comfortable, confident, in command of the offense,” said McCarthy. “I think it doesn’t look like they’re holding anything back. He can make all the throws. So I think he’s off to an excellent start.”
But Danny Wuerffel? Not so fast.
Brady new iron man
Brady made his 81st straight regular-season start in Thursday night’s win over the Eagles. He has 14 more in the postseason, giving him 95.
Those numbers are significant because 44-year-old quarterback now has the longest active streak in the NFL.
Russell Wilson had been the iron man, but the finger injury he suffered last week has him missing a start for the first time in his career. His streak now stops at 149 consecutive regular-season games, and 165 consecutive games counting the playoffs, all of which puts Brady back in the lead.
Brett Favre owns the alltime record for consecutive starts, with 321 (297 regular season, 24 playoffs) from 1992 to 2010. To break Favre’s record, Brady would need to start 226 more games in a row.
That’s a long way off. But didn’t Brady say he could play into his 50s?
“I really think I can play as long as I want,” Brady said recently, per the Tampa Bay Times. “I really do. I could literally play until I’m 50 or 55 if I wanted to. I don’t think I will obviously … my physical body won’t be the problem. I think it’ll just be, I’m just missing too much of life with my family.”
Is Mahomes pressing?
While the Chiefs defense is largely responsible for the team’s 2-3 start, Patrick Mahomes isn’t without blame.
He’s committed six turnovers (five interceptions, one lost fumble) in Kansas City’s last three games, with two of those resulting in losses.
Against Buffalo Monday night, the Chiefs lost the turnover battle 4-0.
Asked Wednesday if he was perhaps pressing too hard to make up for the team’s defensive issues, Mahomes said pushing to score has always been the mindset for the offense.
“We try to score every single time we touch the football. That’s how it’s been my entire career here, and that was the precedent that was set before I even started here,” he said. “That’s kind of how I have my mindset going into every single game is that, when we get an to go out there and have success and be successful, we have to capitalize on that. It has nothing to do with whatever is happening on the other side of the ball. It’s just our job as an offense on this team.”
Mahomes went on to say you don’t want to lose the things that have made you successful.
“But at the same time I’ve got to make sure I’m firm with the fundamentals and make sure I stay within the pocket,” he said. “It’s the same thing every year when you kind of see me get a little off. You’ve got to go back to the basics and make sure I perfect those things, and then I think everything else will come along with it.”
Pitts stop
The Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons on a Thursday night, Week 11.
One of the keys to that game will be trying to shut down the Matt Ryan connection with rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, who had his first career 100-yard game and a touchdown last week.
Ryan predicts greatness for Pitts.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of those in the future for him. He’s done a great job of focusing on growth and development day in and day out, just trying to get better,” Ryan said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There’s a lot of noise both positive and negative that can distract you from that. He’s been as good of a young guy of being able to just focus in on working hard every day and getting better, and I think he’s done that for the five games we’ve had. I expect him to continue that. I think it’s showing that he is really a talented player and can be a great player in this league.”