New England quarterback Mac Jones tries to escape the pressure from the Buffalo defense during Thursday’s loss to the Bills in Foxborough, Mass. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After Thursday’s 24-10 loss to Buffalo, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones explained why he exploded during an expletive-laced tirade caught on the game telecast that later went viral on social media.
The quarterback said he was screaming expletives because he felt like the Patriots “needed chunk plays.” When asked about the offense’s struggles as a whole, pointed the finger at himself and said he needed to hold players accountable, and perhaps most surprisingly, expressed a desire “to be coached harder.”
“Obviously, (I) just kind of let my emotions get to me but we’re kind of playing from behind. What I said was about throwing it deeper in the short (passing) game. I got to execute that part better,” Jones said. “But it’s the short game we kept going to, which is working. But I felt like we needed chunk plays. I shouted that out to kind of get everyone going.
“That’s emotional. That’s football. I’m passionate about this game. Obviously, you don’t want to let your emotions get the best of you. But yeah, I think that’s pretty much it. It wasn’t directed at anybody. Just emotion coming out and we kind of needed a spark.”
Jones added the Patriots planned to attack the Bills defense with a short passing game that would force them to tackle in space. The Pats appeared ready to exploit that weaknesses when rookie cornerback/returner Marcus Jones went off for a 48-yard touchdown on a screen in the first quarter. But then they went three-and-out on their next three series and trailed 17-7 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bills held the Patriots scoreless until Nick Folk kicked a 39-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining. Jones went off before that drive, which lasted 17 plays and almost six minutes before the Patriots finally scored.
“Yeah, I think it was just me at that point in the game like, ‘All right, we’re playing catch-up here. Let’s go for it, let’s be aggressive, let’s take those shots, just go down fighting.’ (offensive play-caller Matt Patricia) was on the same page,” Jones added. “We kind of did it there at the end and moved it a little bit more. At the end of the day we have to execute the plays and do a better job.”
The Patriots gained just 242 total yards. Mac Jones threw for 195 yards with 48 of those coming from cornerback Marcus Jones’ 48-yard touchdown reception. The Patriots targets averaged just 8.9 yards per catch on Thursday. No one other than Marcus Jones hit the 40-yard receiving mark.
Receiver Kendrick Bourne gave his assessment of the issues, using the word “frustrating” multiple times and saying the group was too predictable on third down and the pass protection wasn’t good enough.
“Yeah, man, we need to scheme up better. We need to know what they’re doing. We need to know what they wanna do on third down. We’re kind of sporadic,” Bourne said. “They call this, and we call that, and it falls right into what they want. We need to have it where they’re falling into what we want and things like that.”
As good as the Bills defense is, Bourne noted that Buffalo was playing without two of their best players – Von Miller and Micah Hyde. He thought the Patriots offense wasn’t being aggressive enough.
“No Von Miller, we gotta take advantage of that. No Micah Hyde, things like that. We have to take advantage of those things,” Bourne said. “They’re playing a different scheme. They’re more soft in what they’re doing, so they’re more conservative. We’ve gotta take advantage and not just have 5-yard throws and moving slow. We need to be able to attack and put pressure on the defense.”
AFTER PLAYING three games in 12 days, the Patriots have 11 days before they get back on the field on Monday, Dec. 12 against the Arizona Cardinals. That will give running back Damien Harris a chance to come back from a thigh injury and provide some help for Rhamondre Stevenson.
The offensive line is also banged up, with tackles Isaiah Wynn (foot) and Yodny Cajuste (calf) missing Thursday’s game.
“Sometimes you’re fortunate. … Sometimes it’s like this,” said center David Andrews, who missed the previous game with a thigh injury but returned against Buffalo. “Every team deals with it. Some teams are more fortunate at times.”
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