New England Patriots get somewhat good news on Mac Jones
After Mac Jones left the game late in the fourth quarter in week three, the New England Patriots likely expected the worst. However, it seems like the worst was avoided. Sure, the end result of this injury still isn’t pretty, no matter how you look at it, but I think the team avoided a major setback here.
NFL Network’s own Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that the second year quarterback suffered a “pretty severe” high ankle sprain. The team is currently hopeful that Jones can avoid surgery, which could potentially knock him out for the rest of the season.
If this was something like an injury to his non-throwing hand, there could be reason to believe that he’d play in week four, but an injury to the ankle, especially of the high-sprain variety, is a tough one to heal quickly.
A low ankle sprain is one that is much quicker to come back from than a high ankle sprain. The average high ankle sprain apparently takes anywhere from 15-46 days to recover from.
If Jones’ is indeed pretty severe, I’d guess that the team would be looking at closer to the 46 day range, which, is essentially seven weeks. Perhaps Mac Jones can heal sooner, but if I were to make an educated guess, I think Mac Jones may end up missing 5-7 weeks for the Patriots.
It is still a devastating blow for the team, but if it’s not season ending, there’s still a positive there. Brian Hoyer is likely to get the starts in place of Mac Jones. Brian Hoyer has played for the Patriots before, and likely knows the system pretty well.
However, the Patriots play the Packers, Lions, Browns, Bears, and Jets in their next five games. I’d have to think that the Packers and Lions could take care of New England. The Browns, Bears, and Jets are interesting, though. All three teams have clear weaknesses at the quarterback position, and if Mac Jones would be able to play in those three games by some off chance, I’d like the Patriots’ chances to win.
The next five games, if that’s indeed how long Mac Jones misses, aren’t exactly super tough. I think this is what makes his injury even more frustrating. In the coming days, we’ll get a clearer picture on how long Mac Jones will truly miss.