Josh McDaniels says he has ‘plenty of respect’ for Mac Jones, regardless of struggles

Patriots

“A variety of respect for him, plenty of admiration for what he did once I was there. It’ll be a giant problem for us this week.”

Mac Jones‘ greatest season was his 2021 rookie yr beneath then-Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Jones made the Professional Bowl that yr, and helped the Patriots attain the playoffs. The Patriots went 10-7, and Jones threw for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns in opposition to 13 interceptions.

With Jones’s current struggles, together with back-to-back benchings during the last two weeks, the 2021 model of Jones appears distant.

However, McDaniels, now the top coach of the Raiders, says he nonetheless has a stage of admiration for New England’s third-year quarterback.

“He’s performed massive in massive video games. He’s battled in opposition to actually good groups, made some high-level throws, and hung in there,” McDaniels mentioned throughout a current Raiders press convention. “Very robust within the pocket, will get hit and will get proper up and goes to the subsequent play. So, plenty of respect for him, plenty of admiration for what he did once I was there. It’ll be a giant problem for us this week.”

McDaniels admitted that Jones has struggled with turnovers not too long ago. He has eight, together with six interceptions. However, McDaniels mentioned that Jones nonetheless has traits that might result in success.

“He’s a really proficient participant. Accuracy has all the time been an enormous a part of his sport, contact, anticipation. He has all these issues at a really excessive stage,” McDaniels mentioned.

“They’ve battled the identical bug we’ve battled actually, with the turnovers and shedding alternatives by change of possession,” McDaniels continued. “So, I’m positive that’s one thing that they’re going to work onerous at limiting and eliminating, and it’s the identical factor we’re speaking about. However this can be a man who’s a really succesful passer in each scenario.”

McDaniels mentioned that the Patriots are among the finest defensive groups within the league and that stopping Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott will be a magnet for the Raiders this week.

“A variety of various things, lots totally different challenges,” McDaniels mentioned. “It is a totally different workforce than we performed final December by far. Our workforce is totally different, theirs is simply too. They’ve acquired totally different coaches. This shall be a giant week of preparation for us.”