New England Patriots: 5 observations from fumbling loss to Miami

New England Patriots rookie Mac Jones is going to be special

Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, Mac Jones played his first game in a New England Patriots uniform with poise, except for his first drop back of the game that is.

On the first drive, Jones was sacked and fumbled in a play that looked to have surprised him.

"“We just were running a play in the red zone, high red zone, and I should have just thrown it away,” Jones said.  “It was that simple.  Yeah, just throw it away and move on to the next down.”"

That’s both a sign of maturity and growth for the rookie who went on to showcase an extreme amount of poise in the pocket.  The Dolphins came after him and he manipulated the pocket by stepping up and making some impressive throws.  He also showed great touch with that wheel route to James White in which he dropped it right in the basket for a key third-down conversion.

The play showed glimpses of Mr. Tom Brady, but Tom Brady is not who or what Mac Jones needs to be to lead this football team.  He just needs to be as accurate and confident as he was in his debut performance.

It was a loss, but it was an encouraging performance by Jones, who wasn’t satisfied and knows his team and his offense can and will get better.

"“I think we can get better,” Jones said.  “That’s just how we have to look at it.  Definitely wasn’t good enough, starting with me.  So we’ve got to watch the film.  We lost, so it’s not good enough.”"

Sounds like a quarterback who wants to do the necessary things to win.