Patriots legend blasts QB Mac Jones after Raiders debacle
New England Patriots legend Julian Edelman has once again taken some shots at quarterback Mac Jones.
"The season’s on the line," Edelman said of Jones during the latest edition of the "Inside The NFL" Paramount+ program, as mentioned by Sean Keeley of The Comeback. "You gotta trip him."
Specifically, Edelman was blasting Jones over a perceived lack of effort the signal-caller showed in his attempt to prevent Chandler Jones of the Las Vegas Raiders from scoring an easy walk-off touchdown on the final play of this past Sunday's game:
Edelman didn't stop with the Week 15 defeat that dropped New England to 7-7 on the season.
The Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player also criticized the second-year pro over the negative attitude he's repeatedly displayed during games this fall.
"You know what, he also doesn’t practice the antics after plays and waving off coaches and all these little p---- faces and stuff," Edelman said of Jones. "Like he doesn’t practice that, and he does it. Why can’t you make the tackle? It’s bad."
This isn't a one-off for Edelman, as the retired wide receiver publicly said in October he believed Bailey Zappe deserved to start over Jones as long as Zappe played well and guided New England to wins.
Multiple insiders have suggested that Patriots coach Bill Belichick could seek a reunion with either Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter Tom Brady or San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this winter because Jones has noticeably regressed since his solid rookie season.
Per ESPN, Jones heads into Week 16 ranked 29th among qualified players with an 82.6 passer rating and 32nd out of 33 quarterbacks with a 30.7 total QBR on the campaign. He has seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions across 11 contests.
The 2021 first-round draft pick will next have an opportunity to silence Edelman and others when the Patriots host the 10-4 Cincinnati Bengals on Christmas Eve.
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