Mac Jones second guesses Bill Belichick’s call that Hail Mary would’ve been ‘too far’
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones didn’t necessarily agree with Bill Belichick’s reasoning for not calling a Hail Mary on the final play against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The New England Patriots found a way to lose a football game in the most absurd way possible. With the game tied 24-24, the Patriots ran a draw up the middle, which led to running back Rhamondre Stevenson pitching the ball to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who attempted to lateral the football to quarterback Mac Jones. That lateral landed in the hands of Jones… Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones, that is, who returned the fumble for a touchdown.
After the game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked why they didn’t attempt to go for a Hail Mary. Belichick said that the Patriots “couldn’t throw it that far.” It would have been the 55-yard attempt, and the immediate reaction was that Belichick threw some subtle shade at Jones.
On Monday, Jones appeared on “Merloni, Fauria, and Mego” on WEEI in Boston, and was asked about whether the Hail Mary attempt would have been too far. Here’s Jones’s response.
Mac Jones disagrees with Bill Belichick’s assessment that Hail Mary attempt in Week 15 would be too far
“No. I think we, obviously, have a plan in that situation. You have to think about everything in that situation, and that’s something that [Belichick] did, and that’s his job. He’s done that for a long time, but whatever the play call is, I’m going to run it and do the best I can,” said Jones. “If it was a Hail Mary, it was a Hail Mary. If it was a run, it was a run.
“That’s what I always tell myself, regardless of the situation. ‘What’s my job, and how do I do it?’ And I try to just keep it really simple. It’s hand it off, throw it, or run myself, so that’s three options I have. I think it’s one of those things we have to learn from and see what we can do better. But there’s a lot of things that go into it beyond just the throw itself.”
Jones was asked if he knows how far he could throw it, to which he said yes and “I know my number.”
The Patriots were at their own 45-yard line with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The team opted to go for the draw play, which is what Stevenson said during the team’s postgame press conference. With that, the game would have went to overtime. But then, the laterals occurred, which then led to Las Vegas’ walk-off touchdown and Jones getting stiff-armed into the turf.
In the game, Jones had far from a great game. He completed just 13-of-31 pass attempts (41.9 percent) for just 112 yards. New England’s lone touchdown of the game arrived on Stevenson’s 34-yard run with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
The Patriots will try to get into the playoffs with just three weeks remaining in the season. But, they have a rough final stretch, as they face the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills.
