Why former NFL QB is optimistic about Patriots' Mac Jones

Former NFL quarterback and current analyst Matt Hasselbeck remains optimistic regarding New England Patriots signal-caller Mac Jones after head coach Bill Belichick benched Jones in last Sunday's 38-3 loss at the Dallas Cowboys. 

"I think they can get on track," Hasselbeck said about the Patriots and Jones during a chat with Mike Reiss of ESPN. "There’s some good stuff there. Mac Jones played great in the first quarter (against Dallas) -- no sacks, started fast against a tough opponent. Then in the second quarter, everything comes off the rails – critical error after critical error."

Jones lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and threw an awful interception that became a pick-six in the second quarter against Dallas before he was pulled in the third quarter. 

Both Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien defended Jones this week, and Hasselbeck believes the 25-year-old can do better at avoiding such costly miscues beginning with this Sunday's game between the 1-3 Patriots and 2-2 New Orleans Saints at New England's Gillette Stadium. 

"I think he was playing outside himself, a situation where you have to keep your confidence high and remember who you are as a player, but also understand who you’re not as a player," Hasselbeck said about Jones. 

Hasselbeck interestingly offered those comments the same week an unnamed "top executive from a team that played" the Patriots this season told NFL insider Albert Breer that the current version of Jones "won’t be the reason" a team wins on a weekly basis. According to ESPN stats, Jones enters this weekend ranked 25th in the NFL among qualified players with a 45.1 adjusted QBR and an 80.8 passer rating. He matched five touchdown passes with four interceptions over the season's first four games. 

"Mac needs to understand he isn’t playing with who he was in college [at Alabama] -- you can’t just throw it up there like that and say, 'My guy is better than your guy,'" Hasselbeck added. "That’s not this team. You have to read it out." 

Outsiders may never know the full story about rumors claiming Belichick "shopped" Jones this past offseason, but it's hardly a stretch to say the 2021 first-round draft pick hasn't yet flipped a figurative switch working under O'Brien. How Belichick responds if Jones produces another dud in the first half against New England could say plenty about the quarterback's future with the organization beyond Sunday afternoon.