The New England Patriots stand at a record of 5-4 after their bye week, but few of those five wins have come on the back of outstanding quarterback performances. Rookie Mac Jones, still celebrated in 2021, is struggling mightily at the moment.

Munich/Foxborough – It’s gotten cold in the New England area. Not only in terms of outside temperatures, but also in the New England Patriots’ practice.

“Only” five wins out of nine games, a sluggish offense and fourth place in the AFC East: Head coach Bill Belichick has certainly been in a better mood.

The same goes for quarterback Mac Jones. If the young playmaker could hardly keep from beaming in his rookie year in 2021, his expression is more often sombre this year. That’s mostly due to his personal accomplishments.

While he was an above-average quarterback as a rookie last season, which is by no means easy as a freshman in the NFL world, his performances like numbers have plummeted this season. What’s the reason for that.

Mac Jones – Reason 1: New system, new coaches, questionable playcalling

The offseason for the Patriots has been tumultuous. Not because many players were shuffled back and forth, but many coaches.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left the franchise to take another run at being a head coach. Having already failed miserably as head coach with the Denver Broncos from 2009 to 2011, McDaniels is now trying his hand with the Las Vegas Raiders. The interim result after nine games: A sobering 2-7.

However, McDaniels was undoubtedly one of the main reasons why Jones had such an easy time in his first NFL season. Short, safe passes, play action and in between physical running plays, if need be also with the rough trowel, i.e. fullback Jakob Johnson, who still put on the pads in his time in New England. Not for nothing did Jones finish the year with nearly 68 percent of balls snapped, second for rookies in NFL history.

McDaniels’ successor was Matt Patricia. He knows the Patriots facilities like the back of his hand, but as defensive coordinator. Together with Joe Judge, former coach of the special teams, he was supposed to lead the new Patriots offence. Having coaches with no experience calling the plays at that position is poison for a young quarterback. Especially when they threw the aforementioned attributes that made the Patriots’ 2021 offense so strong (sixth in points scored) out the window, virtually without exception. “We do what we believe is best for our football team,” Belichick explained in best Belichick fashion.

On his departure from Foxborough, fullback Johnson, now a wanted man in Las Vegas, hinted at impending doom for Jones. “I was told they want to go in a different direction. There’s no room for me in the new system,” the Stuttgart native said in March.

Hardly any play action, no more fullbacks, rarely more than five offensive linemen. Instead, Jones is supposed to distribute the balls from the shotgun across the field and take the legs in his own hands more often. Jones certainly makes more mistakes than he did in 2021, but from the outside, at least, it is also made significantly more difficult for him than it needs to be. Interesting to note: When Bailey Zappe replaced Jones, Patricia ordered more play-action passes and more often put more players on the offensive line.

Mac Jones – Reason 2: The Offensive Line

The real showpiece of the New England offense should be the offensive line. The guard line of Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews, Michael Onwenu and Isaiah Wynn is, on paper, one of the strongest in the league. Unfortunately, from a Patriots perspective, only on paper.

This alternates outstanding with sub-par performances. While the line under the command of Bailey Zappe did not allow a single sack against the Detroit Lions, Jones was under constant pressure in the “first leg” against the New York Jets, resulting in six sacks in the end.

That doesn’t exactly make it easier to call the right plays, to give playcallers and play designers Patricia and Judge some credit. No defense is going to be fooled by play-action passes when the offensive line can’t block the pass or the run anyway.

Mac Jones – Reason 3: Injuries

However, that offensive line is also plagued by injuries. Most recently, centre Andrews had to sit out two games because he suffered a concussion in the game against the Chicago Bears. While Jones can call the plays or audibles on his own and also change the block scheme – the centre almost always does that with other young QBs – when there are sometimes crater-sized gaps in the offensive line, the block scheme doesn’t do you much good.

Andrews, who will return against the Jets, wasn’t the only one affected by injuries. Onwenu, Wynn and Brown have also had to sit out on and off in between. And those are just the injuries on the offensive line. Running back Damien Harris, wide receivers DeVante Parker and Jakobi Meyers, and tight end Jonnu Smith having to rest in between is all too natural in the course of a football season.

The biggest detriment, however, Jones suffered was his own injury. Just when it seemed he was getting into something like a rhythm, he suffered a severe ankle sprain against the Baltimore Ravens. For Jones, who always plays with a brace on his right leg as a precaution, it’s the first major injury since he came out of high school. Dealing with it in your head as a young player is also easier said than done.

Mac Jones – Reason 4: The psyche

Speaking of the head: there’s probably a lot going on in it anyway. Not because of all the castles that have happened since March 2022. After all, Mac Jones is the successor to none other than Tom Brady, the GOAT and most successful football player in history. That alone is more pressure than some people can stand.

In Jones’ comeback game after the aforementioned ankle injury against the Chicago Bears, he was handed in at the 0:10 mark. The packed Gillette Stadium also sang a chant for Bailey Zappe, who had won both of his previous starts.

If that wasn’t enough, the entire football nation was watching, the game a prime time game in the US. Jones was the loneliest person in the stadium at that moment. “You’ve got to be careful you don’t break that kid,”

It goes without saying that the 24-year-old did not distribute the balls with full confidence to everyone who was open or not open in the next two games. But: In the National Football League, it’s all about winning. And Jones won both games. With the active support of his defence, that should not be forgotten, but no one will ask about that later.

Now, against the New York Jets, the third win in a row is on the cards.

And, who knows, maybe we’ll see the “old” Mac Jones again in front of the home crowd.