McDaniels on Jones: ‘Trust him completely’
Josh McDaniels is confident in Mac Jones ability to throw the football downfield.
Whether having his rookie quarterback throw it vertically down field, or horizontally, the Patriots offensive coordinator said he has no limits on Jones, who was 22 for 30 for just 186 yards in Sunday’s win over the Jets.
“I trust him completely,” said McDaniels, when asked Tuesday if he had faith to unleash Jones, and have his rookie quarterback be as aggressive as needed to win football games.
“For me, believe me, there’s not a lot that we’re holding back for him. You can call as many (deep balls) as you want. It doesn’t mean the ball is going to go there because the defense certainly has a vote in where the ball is going to end up going.”
McDaniels said so much goes into throwing deep balls, be it protection, whether the defense is blitzing, coverages, and if his receivers are getting open and running the proper route.
Jones, who ranks 31st in the league in terms of air yards (5.1), has only hit a few passes of 20 yards or more thus far.
“Certainly, you want to be able to test those areas of the field as you move forward,” McDaniels said during his video call with reporters. “But I also want him to make smart decisions, I want him to protect the football, and I want him to be aggressive when it’s time to be aggressive.”
McDaniels agreed the Patriots have to show the ability to throw downfield and hit the long ball in order to keep defenses honest and open up the inner portions of the field.
“It’s important to have the ability to throw the ball to all levels of the defense and make them defend everything, which certainly would open up other things for you underneath, possibly,” said McDaniels, “but at the same time, there’s an important balance between just closing your eyes and heaving it deep when it’s really not there.”
In other words, McDaniels doesn’t want Jones to heave it, just to heave it.
Thus far, Jones has relied more on check-downs. He did hit Nelson Agholor (vs. Dolphins) and Jakobi Meyers (vs. Jets) on balls that traveled 20 yards or more, but hasn’t really attempted many throws down the field.
“It’s just there’s certain times when it’s the right time to do it, certain times where it’s not,” said McDaniels, “and I gotta continue to work hard myself to try to provide our offense with opportunities to do that.”
Still, it’s pretty remarkable for McDaniels to have that kind of trust in a 23-year-old rookie quarterback, who’s only played in two NFL games.
Honors for Edelman
The Patriots will honor former wide receiver Julian Edelman with a special halftime ceremony during this week’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
Edelman, who made his home the slot, constantly moving the chains on offense, announced his retirement after 12 seasons with the Patriots this past spring.
The three-time Super Bowl winner made his greatest impact in the big games. He also made an imprint in the Patriots record books. He finished second in team history with 620 receptions, fourth with 6,822 receiving yards and ninth with 36 receiving touchdowns.
Edelman, now working as an analyst for “Inside the NFL” on CBS, also sits second in NFL history with 118 postseason receptions, behind Jerry Rice’s 151 catches in the playoffs. He is one of 15 NFL players with at least 1,000 career postseason yards.
Edelman also has a Super Bowl MVP on his resume, finishing with 10 receptions for 141 yards in the win vs. the Los Angeles Rams.
“I think he’s one of the best that’s been around here, just in my short time here, and the time I got to spend with him,” said tackle Isaiah Wynn, who cited the energy Edelman brought to the locker room and field. “He’s a great wide receiver, and was a great addition to our offense. I’m happy for him and I’ll be looking forward to his halftime thing.”
Folk signed
Nick Folk, who has booted a franchise record 33 straight field goals, was signed to the Patriots active roster, the team announced.
The veteran kicker had been playing hopscotch between the practice squad and game day roster the first two weeks of the season.
Given the Patriots can’t do that indefinitely per league rules, and with rookie Quinn Nordin on injured reserve, Folk was signed.
With three field goals in Sunday’s 25-6 win over the Jets, Folk pushed ahead of Stephen Gostkowski, who had the previous mark of 31 straight set in 2015.
Special teams coach Cam Achord was glowing in his assessment of Folk, speaking with the media on Tuesday.
“He’s that consistent professional you talk about,” said Achord. “He provides great leadership. He’s the staple . . . he’s a guy you love to work with.”
Prepping for Winston
At 6-foot-4, 231 pounds, Jameis Winston is one of the bigger quarterbacks in the league. He’s also pretty mobile.
Linebacker Josh Uche, for one, believes he’ll have a decent handle on Winston having practiced against a similar quarterback.
“In my own personal perspective, we had Cam (Newton) last year. Going against him in practice definitely prepared, at least me, personally, going against him, a bigger quarterback in the pocket,” said Uche. “So, kind of some type of similarities there. But you know, he’s a quarterback. You guys can focus on his size, and that’s one thing, but at the end of the day, he’s a quarterback.”