New England Patriots, Mac Jones have faced major roadblocks in Year 2

Coming off a successful rookie season, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was destined to be even better in Year 2.

However, due to the off offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a new offensive scheme, dealing with a high ankle sprain and mental mistakes, it has been a season of regression for Jones who has dropped down to a bottom 10 quarterback in the NFL based on the NFL QB Index.

Ranked No. 24 this week, the growing pains surrounding Mac Jones will either turn him into a stronger leader moving forward or break his NFL career…at least as a starter in this league.

New England Patriots QB Mac Jones has to look from within to find improvement

As NFL.com’s Marc Sessler wrote in this week’s Index, Jones has his own deficiencies to work on if he is going to overcome this Year 2 setback:

"“A strange Monday night! Jones operated behind a banged-up line and found himself running the show minus Jakobi Meyers, a concussed DeVante Parker and ankle-addled Rhamondre Stevenson. Amid a stellar defensive performance by the Patriots, Jones threw a pick on a snap where his arm was hit, performed another on-camera meltdown vaguely aimed at Matt Patricia, was later seen smiling with the coordinator, made use of Hunter Henry, threw a flock of screen passes and did just enough to help best a floundering Cardinals ghost ship.”"

Clearly Mac Jones is a better quarterback than some of the names ranked ahead of him like Colt McCoy, Taylor Heinicke, and San Francisco 49ers great story in Brock Purdy, but the issues with Patriots offensive coordinator Matt Patricia and his overall frustration has him ranked exactly where he should be.

With Patricia in his head both literally and figuratively, Mac Jones does have to find a way to get back to playing the kind of smart football that made him a top rookie a season ago.  He must re-establish that trust that will allow more calls pushing the ball down the field.  Jones does have the ability to put in more performances like he did earlier in the year against the Baltimore Ravens and against the Minnesota Vikings.

Patriots need the leadership of Mac Jones to shine through

The games against the Ravens and Vikings were losses, but Patriots fans got to see what the offense can look like when they get the ball down the field to the likes of DeVante Parker and tight end Hunter Henry.  Despite an offensive line that has struggled with cohesion, the Patriots do have enough offensive weapons to be a good offense.  They just need the leadership out of the quarterback position to be a more efficient offense going forward.

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It sounds funny that this late in the season, the team is still trying to figure it all out, but Mac Jones at least knows it starts with him.

"“I think I always try to lead by example, just by working hard. Always try to do more, that’s all you can do and hopefully people see that,” Jones told the media on Thursday. “I know that they do, but I’m not a super, super talkative person, but I do like to be around my teammates and get a message across. But at the end of the day, it’s more about just enjoying the game and having fun, which you’ve got to try to do no matter what. Practice is sometimes you have good, sometimes it’s bad. So like I said, you work through that and lead either way. It doesn’t matter if you’re up or down. So just try to lead and stay consistent and all that.”"

That does mean less meltdowns during the game.  If the New England Patriots are going to have a chance to hold onto their playoff spot, they will not only need to beat McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders this week, they will need to take a positive attitude into the final stretch of the NFL season.

It begins and ends with Mac Jones on the offensive side of the football.  If he can just find a way to get back to the football he was playing towards the middle of his rookie season, the team will be alright offensively.