TALE OF THE TAPE
Callahan Breaks Down Pats Opener
Part of the reason Mac Jones was so impressive during Sunday’s 17-16 loss to the Dolphins was how well the rookie quarterback stood up to being hit.
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
The Dolphins certainly did a great job welcoming Jones to the NFL, popping him at every turn. In all, they registered nine quarterback hits. Jones, however, was unfazed, delivering clutch plays, particularly on third down (converting 11 for 16 attempts) while absorbing blow after blow.
Asked about Jones’ toughness during a virtual media session Monday, coach Bill Belichick didn’t seem impressed.
“That’s part of football,” said Belichick. “If you play that position, you play any position, that’s part of football.”
The rookie was 29 for 39 for 281 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. He finished the day with a 102.6 passer rating.
Belichick, however, did his best to avoid singling out Jones, and pumping up the rookie over any element of his game. He spoke mostly in general terms when it came to Jones.
“We did some good things in the game. We certainly had our opportunities,” he said. “But we certainly didn’t do enough in any area to have the results that we want. And so, there’s a lot of room for improvement for all of us, coaches, players, whatever position you want to name, whatever player you want to name. Everybody did enough good things to give us an opportunity and put us in position, and we were competitive, and had our chances, but in the end, we weren’t able to take advantage of them and capitalize on them.”
Jones strives for perfection
Don’t expect Jones to get too excited about every rookie landmark moment or record he achieves this season.
That’s just not how he’s wired. He didn’t want any part of taking the football from his first NFL touchdown pass during Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins quite simply because there was more work to do.
For him, as he told WEEI’s “Merloni & Fauria” show during his weekly appearance Monday, it’s “all about winning and losing.”
Asked if he thinks he’s too hard on himself, Jones said he’s told that quite often.
“It’s just trying to be perfect, being a perfectionist. It’s something we all want to do here, just try to be as perfect as we can,” he said. “I think we did a good job (Sunday) of not getting too emotional or anything like that, too.
“When I play my best, I just stick to my rules, and trust the people around me who have played a lot of football. My goal is to just be able to do my job even better every week,” he went on. “I know the guys around me who have played in the NFL for a while are going to do that, too. If I can elevate my game, they’re going to elevate theirs. We’re just going to keep stacking days together.”
Jones re-watched film of the loss several times, and said he thought he left some plays on the field. He also knows what to do next time he gets swarmed in the pocket — avoid throwing it backwards as he attempted an illfated pass to Jonnu Smith on the first series. The play was ruled a sack and a fumble, which Smith recovered.
“You just have to throw the ball away and move on, that’s kind of how it works,” he said “I could have just thrown it to the right, out of bounds, and moved on,” he said. “Definitely not smart, because we moved out of field goal range. So just throw it away next time, and learn from it.”
That was one of the few miscues he made, as Jones notched the best completion percentage (74.4 %) of any rookie making his first NFL start.
“All the guys did a good job getting open, receivers, running backs, tight ends, everybody,” he said. “We’ll have more explosive plays hopefully and that’ll just come with more games that we play.”
Sense of urgency
Defensive captain Devin McCourty said Monday’s film session of the Miami loss wasn’t one where you just bury the tape, because of how awful the team played.
After all, the defense only gave up 17 points. But there’s still work to do.
“You know, they got some stops from their defense, we didn’t get any stops in the red area. Like the situational part — we played well on third down, but then we didn’t play well in the red area,” he said. “And that was really kind of the difference in points for us
and compared to points for them as a defense.
“But that’s game one, we got time, but the sense of urgency in this league has to happen right away, because you can’t just start falling behind and losing games.”
Report: Brown has ‘minor’ injury
Right tackle Trent Brown left Sunday’s season opener against Miami with a calf injury after playing just seven snaps.
He later returned to the sideline in uniform, but didn’t play another down. Brown’s mere presence on the sideline indicated the injury wasn’t serious, but the Pats opted to keep him on the bench all the way through the end of their eventual 17-16 defeat.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there’s reason to believe Brown will play Week 2 at the Jets. Per Schefter, the injury is considered “minor,” and the team has described Brown as day-to-day.
Folk, Hoyer back to practice squad
Patriots kicker Nick Folk and quarterback Brian Hoyer reverted back to the practice squad Monday, after being elevated for Sunday’s season opener against Miami.
The Pats now have an open spot on their active roster, which was vacated when the team placed wide receiver Malcolm Perry on injured reserve last week. The Patriots could sign Folk, Hoyer or any player on any practice squad around the league to fill that final position.