‘You can’t ask anything else of a quarterback’: Bill Parcells likes what he sees from Mac Jones

Consider Bill Parcells a fan of Mac Jones.

The former Patriots coach is following his former team and his former mentee, Bill Belichick, this season. Speaking to The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, Parcells shared that he was impressed with the Patriots’ 24-6 win over the Panthers in Week 9, citing the team’s time of possession as one of the things he liked.

Parcells then mentioned how much he liked how Jones has been playing this season.

“The guy [Jones] is taking care of the ball and you had control of the game from beginning to end,” Parcells said. “You can’t ask anything else of a quarterback. If you can play like that, you’re going to win a lot of games. I really think they’ve got a good chance. I really do.

“You don’t want to get a rookie quarterback in a situation where they are playing from behind all the time. It’s hard enough when you’re a veteran to do that. For a rookie, it’s really hard.

“The main thing you want to emphasize is the game’s about the ball. You’ve got to take care of the ball. You want to emphasize not being careless and not gambling at the wrong time.”

Now, Jones did have two turnovers in the win (an interception and a fumble). But he’s been pretty clean with the ball in recent weeks. Jones didn’t throw an interception in the prior wins against the Jets and Chargers.

Sunday’s win against the Panthers was the third time Jones had a multi-turnover game this season. However, an argument could be made in his prior two multi-turnover games that a couple of turnovers weren’t necessarily his fault. Jonnu Smith had a pass from Jones go right through his hands that resulted in a pick-six against the Saints. In the Cowboys game, Jones got rocked by Randy Gregory for a forced fumble, which happened because of a missed block from right tackle Yodny Cajuste.

The other trait of Jones that Parcells likes is the quarterback’s accuracy. Jones’s completion percentage (68 percent) is the ninth-best in the league. If Jones is accurate and takes care of the ball, Parcells believes that with the way the defense has performed as of late, the Patriots could be sitting in a good spot for the season’s homestretch.

“That’s good,” Parcells said of Jones’s accuracy. “That’s one of the main criteria: Can he hit what he’s throwing at? That’s really important. He looks good. He’s doing good.

“Plus, I like the way their defense is playing. They’re taking the ball away. If you take the ball away and you don’t give it away, you’ve got a real good chance in the NFL every Sunday.

“They know what they’re doing. I think those games with Buffalo will be the key games. Let’s wait till after Thanksgiving. It really gets important then.”

The Patriots have a couple of tough tests prior to their first matchup against the Bills. This Sunday they take on the 5-4 Browns at home, which could be used as a tiebreaker between the two teams later in the season.

Following Sunday’s game, they take a trip south to take on the 4-4 Falcons on Thursday before hosting the AFC-leading Titans in Week 12.

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