Patriots great Julian Edelman is curious to see how New England quarterback Mac Jones will carry himself out of the rookie slump he’s been in the past two weeks.
“The rookie wall is real,” the former Patriots wide receiver said in the latest episode of “Inside the NFL” on Paramount+.
“But these last two weeks, you can tell that the rookie wall may have hit. He’s had two games with two picks back-to-back. It will be interesting to see how he goes forward and to see really what he’s made of.”
Jones has thrown four interceptions and just two touchdowns in his last two games — losses to the Bills and Colts — including his first red-zone interception of the season against Indianapolis. That followed a seven-game win streak, a rise to the top of the AFC East and the Patriots’ bye in Week 14.
“These last two weeks, he could have been an A- if he continued that same play,” Edelman said. “We’ve seen him be a very efficient quarterback. You see him get through his progressions. You can see him drive a team down the field.”
Edelman gave Jones a “B+” grade for his rookie season thus far, before the Patriots face the Jaguars in Week 17. With Sunday’s loss to their rival at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots are now tied atop the division with the Bills.
Jones took responsibility for his dip in production and said after the game that he needs to be better moving forward.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, meanwhile, isn’t worried about Jones’ late-season slump.
“He’s doing fine, no concern on that,” McDaniels said on Wednesday of the Alabama product hitting any kind of rookie wall at this point in the season. “Each rookie kind of handles that differently, there’s always a stretch during the course of the middle of the season that’s a little bit new to them. Because when you count the preseason, starting in July, usually that happens somewhere towards the end of October, middle of November, somewhere in there.
“He’s gotten through that, he understands what he needs to do and does a great job with his regimen, takes care of his body, his preparation, he’s learned how to manage his time and what he needs to allocate it towards.”