Greg Bedard on the Patriots passing game against the Packers
Greg Bedard of BostonSportsJournal.com joined the Felger and Mazz program on Tuesday to discuss the latest on the New England Patriots. Bedard gave his thoughts on Mac Jones and the Patriots passing game on Friday night against the Green Bay Packers.
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Thoughts on Mac Jones and the Passing Game…
Mazz: Let’s start with Mac Jones and the passing game. What did you think of the passing offense given that this was our first look at Jones?
Aug 19, 2023; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) looks to pass against the Green Bay Packers in the first quarter at Lambeau Field. Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Greg Bedard: I thought it was good. Solid. I think Bill used the word that Mac was “solid” in the game. I would agree with that. I think he’s doing the stuff at the line of scrimmage getting into right plays, protections, and changes. Stuff that he wasn’t allowed to do last year, which is a big part of his game and what gives him a chance to be a good starting NFL quarterback if he gets to that point. So I thought that he threw the ball well against pressure in that game and there was a decent amount of pressure. I thought he stepped up and he took some hits, the in-cut to Kendrick Bourne being the most prominent one. The Devante Parker pass I thought that was a good pass. It’s interesting they had another pass like that today and I don’t know, I mean, it was incomplete, and I think it goes to a larger discussion, which I’m sure we’ll get into, which is, I’m just not sure that they have it at the skill positions. I don’t think they have enough. And that pass to Parker being one of them, I mean, if that player’s better, if they have a little bit more juice, it’s probably a completion, if not a touchdown. I mean, it was a good throw by Mac Jones and the Hunter Henry Pass, on the coach’s film it looked a lot closer than it was on TV. I think Mac Jones was protecting Hunter Henry a little bit, you know, it being the preseason and he didn’t want to just like lead him out in front, right into the safety sort of thing. But look, they just missed on it and that’s good to get on film and you can make corrections in practice and go forward. And I like some of the wrinkles that Bill O’Brien showed. They sort of sprinkled little things in, the RPOs and things like that. I think their quick game will be better this year. They’ve worked on it a lot. We saw it a lot today in practice. So overall I was encouraged by what I saw but I’m not willing to go any further than that.
