In Buffalo, Mac Jones’s honeymoon period with the Jaguars, his home team, came to an abrupt end.
On Monday night, the former Patriots quarterback made his regular-season debut with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jones replaced Trevor Lawrence in the game’s final minutes, which resulted in a 47-10 blowout loss to the Bills.
In Buffalo, Lawrence (21-of-38, 178 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) toiled all night long, but when forced into action, Jones didn’t perform much better.
Javon Solomon strip-sacked Jones on his third play of the game as he was dropping back to pass; Casey Toohill of Buffalo recovered the ball on the Jaguars’ 21-yard line.
Ray Davis scored the game’s final touchdown for the Bills four plays later, finishing the scoring for the evening.
While Jones was replacing Lawrence, he completed five of his eight throws for 22 yards; however, one of those completions was a drop by Jaguars receiver Parker Washington in the end zone in the last minute of play.
Nevertheless, Jones, who was traded from the Patriots to the Jaguars in March in return for a sixth-round choice, had a very unimpressive debut.
Although Jones was benched by New England in favor of youngster Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett, Jones made an immediate impression for Jacksonville in preseason play, finishing 38 of his 52 throws for 421 yards and three touchdowns.
Jones appeared to be a far cry from the unimpressive quarterback who finished his last two seasons in Foxborough with 24 touchdowns and 23 picks at one point in August.
However, Patriots supporters were accustomed to witnessing his error on Monday, as the signal-caller had a history of coughing up the ball at crucial moments in games.
“Mac has performed incredibly well over the past few weeks and has truly bought into our philosophy,” Jaguars head coach Dough Pederson said the media in August. “He’s done a good job, but he will still occasionally revert to his Patriot ways, so we’ll have to remind him that he is in Jacksonville.”
When New England plays the Jaguars in London on October 20, the Patriots and Jones might square off on the football field the following month.
But before the NFL trade deadline, Jones, a 26-year-old quarterback who was just nominated to the Pro Bowl, would be a desirable target, particularly for the Dolphins, who desperately need a signal-caller.
The Dolphins’ top quarterback this week is third-string quarterback Tim Boyle, since backup quarterback Skylar Thompson is now out due to a rib injury and Tua Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve after suffering another concussion in Week 2.
Given the Dolphins’ injury concerns, former Patriots safety Devin McCourty mentioned the team as a potential trade destination for Jones during an appearance on PFT Live with Mike Florio last week.