Rex Ryan had some fun last week at the Patriots’ expense, which should come as no surprise.
The former head coach of the Jets and Bills got a lot of mileage out of once saying he wouldn’t kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.
His latest salvo?
Ryan, now working as an ESPN NFL analyst, made it a point to douse any thought of the Patriots being a playoff team after being asked about the team’s future.
“Not no,” he said, “but hell no.”
Then Ryan called rookie quarterback Mac Jones a “peashooter,” and one of the reasons the Patriots won’t be headed to the postseason.
“Hey, the ball travels down the field more than 15 yards? Uh-oh! That’s bad news for this guy. He’s closer to Danny Wuerffel than he is Tom Brady.”
Ouch!
That’s unfriendly fire, not to mention a good TV soundbite. Ryan knows how to attract attention and loves to shoot from the hip. He’s made a living out of it.
But let’s take away the bluster and tackle Ryan’s points about Jones and the Patriots at face value.
First off, with the Patriots sitting at 2-3, it’s easy to put a “hell no” on the Patriots chances to make the playoffs. That’s not an outrageous claim. Plenty have stated the same view watching the Patriots recently, present company included. It’s just a tad premature to be so definitive.
There are a few other 2-3 teams of note in the AFC, including Kansas City and Pittsburgh. All of the teams in that boat might in fact wind up toast, but it would be unwise to bet on that Week 6, especially with injuries potentially wreaking havoc with other teams in the conference.
Just look at Seattle in the NFC. The Seahawks have to try and survive the next month or so without quarterback Russell Wilson. Situations change, dynamics change. Wild card spots remain a not-so farfetched possibility for plenty of teams that start out slowly.
As for the peashooter crack, Ryan believes Jones struggles whenever he tries to throw the ball outside the numbers or downfield.
Again, if you ignore all of his smugness when he made the case, Ryan’s not totally wrong. He’s actually in the ballpark.
Many of Jones’ current passing numbers support the notion he’s not as good throwing balls outside the numbers. After five games, Jones is 4-of-19 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s just 2-for-8 throwing deep left, 2-for-9 deep center, and 0-for-2 deep right. His numbers are much better with the short and intermediate routes.
But this is hardly a revelation.
Jones has never been known to have a world-class arm. That was evident in the lead-up to the draft. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields, who were all taken before Jones, all had better grades when it came to arm talent.
Jones’ calling card was his intelligence, accuracy, quick decision making, and quick delivery. His arm wasn’t a plus, but it was still considered strong enough to be successful in the NFL.
But predicting how Jones’ lack of having a cannon for an arm might impact him, and the Patriots by extension, remains up for debate.
When Drew Brees was coming out of college, he wasn’t known to have a howitzer, either. And he did just fine.
Then there’s Brady. Critics still make fun of his NFL Scouting Combine photo. Shirtless and in shorts, Brady hardly looked like a professional athlete, much less the greatest quarterback of all time.
When it comes to Jones, he still has to develop. He’s far from the finished product at this stage. The Patriots and Josh McDaniels have also taken a conservative path with him.
Heading into the Dallas game, Jones averaged just 6.5 yards per attempt. Some of that is due to the play-calling, and McDaniels protecting his rookie quarterback from making mistakes. His opportunities to throw the ball downfield have also been limited by having inconsistent play from the offensive line.
As for his arm strength, or lack of such, the Patriots are sure to get him on a program — if they haven’t already — to add some muscle to his frame and give him a stronger base. That will help with those throws.
Speaking with Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison, who was on hand in Foxboro with NBC during the Patriots Week 4 game against the Buccaneers, he agreed the rookie could probably use “an extra 10 pounds of muscle.”
“But that maturation is going to come with time. So at the end of the day, does he have an arm like Justin Herbert? No, he doesn’t have an arm like Justin Herbert. Who the heck does?” said Harrison. “But at the same time, at this point in time in his career, if you talk about the leadership, the consistency, the knowledge of the game, the accuracy, all of those different things, you couldn’t be happier for the kid.
“Yeah, he’s thrown some passes that should have been picked, just as most of these kids are,” he went on. “But at the end of the day, I’d take this kid leading my offense, over any of those other rookies.”
Opposing defenses are naturally going to test his throwing ability as the season progresses. They’ll try to force Jones to throw outside the numbers by flooding the middle of the field. Eventually, Jones is going to have to prove he can make those throws.
“Yes, he’s going to have to prove it,” Harrison agreed, “but they’re going to have to be more aggressive in their play-calling to get defenses off of him. If teams are being aggressive, jumping all of his routes, then take a shot every series just to send a message to soften the defense. (McDaniels) is trying to minimize mistakes, but the shots down the field can be calculated.”
Kind of like throwing a purpose pitch in baseball.
As Harrison said, take a few shots to keep the defense honest. If Jones connects, great. If not, message sent that the Patriots aren’t afraid to have him make those throws.
Ryan’s remarks aside, Jones will get there. He might not have a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen-type arm, but that won’t necessarily determine how he fares in the NFL. To succeed, he just has to take full advantage of the assets he does have, namely his brain.
And along with his intelligence, he’s very good at many of the other important elements of being a quarterback. His arm strength will improve once he bulks up a bit.
One noted NFL throwing coach also believes Jones can get better in that area. But right now, he’s working from close to the bottom rung on the ladder when it comes to “having competitive arm strength and talent.”
According to that coach, Jones still isn’t quite ready to “not only reach, but attack the boundaries or vertical areas of the field” with regularity.
That should change with time. The bottom line here, is the Patriots’ first-round pick has already performed above expectations.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy certainly sounded impressed when he spoke with the New England media about Jones on Thursday.
“I think he looks very, very comfortable, confident, in command of the offense,” said McCarthy. “I think it doesn’t look like they’re holding anything back. He can make all the throws. So I think he’s off to an excellent start.”
But Danny Wuerffel? Not so fast.
Brady new iron man
Brady made his 81st straight regular-season start in Thursday night’s win over the Eagles. He has 14 more in the postseason, giving him 95.
Those numbers are significant because 44-year-old quarterback now has the longest active streak in the NFL.
Russell Wilson had been the iron man, but the finger injury he suffered last week has him missing a start for the first time in his career. His streak now stops at 149 consecutive regular season games, and 165 consecutive games counting the playoffs, all of which puts Brady back in the lead.
Brett Favre owns the all-time record for consecutive starts, with 321 (297 regular season, 24 playoffs) from 1992 to 2010. To break Favre’s record, Brady would need to start 226 more games in a row.
That’s a long way off. But didn’t Brady say he could play into his 50s?
“I really think I can play as long as I want,” Brady said recently, per the Tampa Bay Times. “I really do. I could literally play until I’m 50 or 55 if I wanted to. I don’t think I will obviously … my physical body won’t be the problem. I think it’ll just be, I’m just missing too much of life with my family.”
Is Mahomes pressing?
While the Chiefs defense is largely responsible for the team’s 2-3 start, Patrick Mahomes isn’t without blame.
He’s committed six turnovers (five interceptions, one lost fumble) in Kansas City’s last three games, with two of those resulting in losses.
Against Buffalo Monday night, the Chiefs lost the turnover battle 4-0.
Asked Wednesday if he was perhaps pressing too hard to make up for the team’s defensive issues, Mahomes said pushing to score has always been the mindset for the offense.
“We try to score every single time we touch the football. That’s how it’s been my entire career here, and that was the precedent that was set before I even started here,” he said. “That’s kind of how I have my mindset going into every single game is that, when we get an opportunity to go out there and have success and be successful, we have to capitalize on that. It has nothing to do with whatever is happening on the other side of the ball. It’s just our job as an offense on this team.”
Mahomes went on to say you don’t want to lose the things that have made you successful.
“But at the same time I’ve got to make sure I’m firm with the fundamentals and make sure I stay within the pocket,” he said. “It’s the same thing every year when you kind of see me get a little off. You’ve got to go back to the basics and make sure I perfect those things, and then I think everything else will come along with it.”
Pitts stop
The Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons on a Thursday night, Week 11.
One of the keys to that game will be trying to shut down the Matt Ryan connection with rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, who had his first career 100-yard game and a touchdown last week.
Ryan predicts greatness for Pitts.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of those in the future for him. He’s done a great job of focusing on growth and development day in and day out, just trying to get better,” Ryan said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There’s a lot of noise both positive and negative that can distract you from that. He’s been as good of a young guy of being able to just focus in on working hard every day and getting better, and I think he’s done that for the five games we’ve had.I expect him to continue that. I think it’s showing that he is really a talented player and can be a great player in this league.”
