‘He’s the real deal’: Mac Jones has taken charge of Patriots’ offense in Year 2 – New England Patriots Blog

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The query of who calls the performs for the New England Patriots‘ offense lingers, however in relation 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 mentioned Thursday on the conclusion of the Patriots’ obligatory 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 mentioned: “Yeah, I feel that is the entire level of the quarterback, to steer the blokes round you, get them the ball.

“I’ve the ball each play and I’ve to make choices to assist the crew win. It’s a must to cease from shedding earlier than you possibly can win. That is the purpose — 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 obligatory minicamp Thursday and the ultimate two voluntary organized crew actions scheduled for subsequent week.

That has been commonplace in recent times, with Belichick rewarding the crew for its work, with the idea {that a} basis has been established main into coaching camp in late July.

Jones, particularly, has made some spectacular throws in current 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 observe of Jones’ command, saying: “I do know him and the coaches have been doing a terrific 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 need to 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 a terrific 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 recognize about him probably the most,” Harris mentioned. “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 geared toward operating backs and the way they should get by the road of scrimmage, Belichick truly 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 type of teaching us,” Jones mentioned. “I really feel like we have made quite a lot 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 useful to me, as a result of he is aware of what places stress on the protection.”

Assistants Matt Patricia (offensive line) and Joe Choose (quarterbacks) have additionally had main roles at instances.

All of this has taken place after Belichick mentioned the offense has been “streamlined” this offseason, much like what he did with the protection in 2019-20. In essence, the Patriots have simplified issues, with Jones saying it is geared toward enjoying sooner.

Jones was requested to explain his consolation stage with the teaching setup now that there have been a handful of practices to evaluate.

“Crucial 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 mentioned.

“I undoubtedly suppose we made fairly good strides there prior to now couple weeks. You’ll be able to’t be executed with OTAs and let that fall off. It’s a must to carry that by the season, that is crucial half. We perceive that for coaching camp. We now have to maintain speaking and maintain speaking.”