Patriots: These incredible Mac Jones stats prove he needs to be unleashed

The New England Patriots picked up their first win at Gillette Stadium on Sunday after dominating the New York Jets, 54-13.

After starting out the season 0-4 at home, it was a confidence-boosting win that the Patriots desperately needed, even if it came against the lowly Jets.

New England’s offense had no issue putting up points and rookie quarterback Mac Jones showed that he’s capable of throwing the ball down field in an aggressive manner.

Aside from the win, Jones reached a milestone of his own on Sunday afternoon. For the first time in his NFL career, he threw for over 300 yards. He finished with 307 yards and completed 24-of-36 pass attempts, throwing for two touchdowns along the way. He’s averaged 7.2 yards a throw during the regular season, but threw for more than 20 yards a total of seven times against New York.

After Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2020 offseason after spending two decades in Foxborough, Cam Newton took over for him during the 2020-21 season. New England selected Jones with the No. 15 pick in the 2021 draft and he’s proven to be the top rookie quarterback in the league. Time to start having the kid let it fly.

Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones is ready to put the offense on his back

The Patriots sit at 3-4 on the year, but have only lost by a combined nine points in three of their four losses. New England is still a work in progress, but the offense is starting to come together and Sunday is proof of that. Overall, the team put together its most complete outing on both sides of the ball.

Jones is the most hit rookie quarterback in the NFL, but in the win over the Jets he was hit only three times and sacked once. His offensive line came up big to give him more time in the pocket, and the results were beyond encouraging.

Heading into Week 8 of the 18-week season, Jones has a quarterback rating of 92.8 and has thrown for 1,779 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions. If there’s one thing that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels needs to take away from Sunday’s win, it’s that Jones needs to take more shots with his arm now that his assortment of weapons are transitioning well into the offense.

For comparison, No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence has thrown for 1,015 yards, three touchdowns and has a 65.9 completion percentage over his past four games with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The main difference is that Jones is playing under the guidance of head coach Bill Belichick. But now is the time for Belichick to let Josh McDaniels take more risks with Jones, especially against inferior defenses.

Jones said a month ago that after watching film he wished that he would’ve thrown the ball down field more, and here we are four weeks later. He’s now averaging 260.5 passing yards per game over the last month and the best part is that there’s room to grow. Time to make it happen because it’s clear he’s succeeding in what’s considered a run-first offense.

Patriots: 3 players that must be targeted to help playoff push before trade deadline

The Patriots need to give one of these three teams a call in the name of prying one of their better players away from them.