FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The query of who calls the performs for the New England Patriots‘ offense lingers, however relating to who has taken possession of the unit on the sphere, receiver Jakobi Meyers is emphatic.
It is quarterback Mac Jones.
“Has he taken management of the offense? That is a capital YES, exclamation mark, exclamation mark,” Meyers stated Thursday on the conclusion of the Patriots’ necessary minicamp. “He is the true deal. We’re all attempting to catch up what’s in his thoughts, his imaginative and prescient.”
Requested if he feels possession of the offense in his second season, Jones stated: “Yeah, I believe that is the entire level of the quarterback, to steer the fellows round you, get them the ball.
• Montgomery enters contract year
• Kupp signs megadeal wearing Stafford jersey
• Bills pass rushers learn from NFL’s best
• CFL star keeps football dreams alive
• Dallas coach wants Parsons to ‘be elite’
“I’ve the ball each play and I’ve to make selections to assist the workforce win. You need to cease from dropping earlier than you may win. That is the aim — try this even higher this 12 months.”
Coach Invoice Belichick appears to love the progress at this level, as evidenced by his canceling the ultimate follow of necessary minicamp Thursday and the ultimate two voluntary organized workforce actions scheduled for subsequent week.
That has been commonplace lately, with Belichick rewarding the workforce for its work, with the assumption {that a} basis has been established main into coaching camp in late July.
Jones, particularly, has made some spectacular throws in latest practices. On Wednesday, he had a number of tight-window deliveries down the sphere — to receivers Tre Nixon and Nelson Agholor, and tight finish Jonnu Smith — that had members of the offense celebrating.
Meyers took word of Jones’ command, saying: “I do know him and the coaches have been doing an incredible job of simply relaying data to us, however in the end once we’re on the market, he tells us. And we ask him, ‘How would you like it? The place would you like us to be? When would you like us to be there?’
“He is been actually adamant about what he says. He has a transparent imaginative and prescient in his thoughts … we simply must catch the ball he throws.”
Agholor, who had rookie cornerback Jack Jones draped throughout him on a “go” route on his lengthy hookup with Jones, added: “He does an incredible job of speaking, and is working to be the perfect model of himself.”
Jones’ possession of the offense was additionally famous by operating again Damien Harris, who was additionally his teammate at Alabama.
“He is an extremely onerous employee, that is what I admire about him probably the most,” Harris stated. “Popping out right here, seeing the best way he leads, [he] works his butt off to be his greatest with a view to assist all of us as his teammates be our greatest.”
As for who will name the performs into Jones, it has been notable to a number of gamers, together with the quarterback himself, how concerned Belichick has been with the offense. At one level Wednesday throughout a drill aimed toward operating backs and the way they should get by way of the road of scrimmage, Belichick really snapped the ball to Jones as a middle.
“He is very hands-on. Final 12 months, he was extra with the protection. However now, it is like, ‘OK, let me present you this’ and he is sort of teaching us,” Jones stated. “I really feel like we have made a variety of development collectively as an offensive unit with him.
“He is seen probably the most quantity of soccer of any of our coaches. He is seen protection, offense and particular groups, so having his enter is all the time going to be very helpful to me, as a result of he is aware of what places stress on the protection.”
Assistants Matt Patricia (offensive line) and Joe Decide (quarterbacks) have additionally had main roles at occasions.
All of this has taken place after Belichick stated the offense has been “streamlined” this offseason, just like what he did with the protection in 2019-20. In essence, the Patriots have simplified issues, with Jones saying it is aimed toward enjoying quicker.
Jones was requested to explain his consolation stage with the teaching setup now that there have been a handful of practices to evaluate.
“An important factor is getting on the identical web page, talking the identical lingo, between the gamers, the coaches, and we have executed an excellent job of that,” he stated.
“I undoubtedly assume we made fairly good strides there prior to now couple weeks. You may’t be executed with OTAs and let that fall off. You need to carry that by way of the season, that is a very powerful half. We perceive that for coaching camp. We’ve got to maintain speaking and preserve speaking.”
