Raiders will see Mac Jones at QB for Patriots despite his struggles

The Patriots might have hit rock bottom Sunday in a 34-0 loss to the Saints.

But their thundering fall wasn’t enough to warrant a change at quarterback. Mac Jones will be the starter when the Patriots play the Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick made that abundantly clear when asked whether a quarterback switch might be in store.

“Yeah, we’re not making any changes,” he said bluntly.

It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but then it is Belichick we’re talking about. He is a man of few words, to say the least.

Nevertheless, it spoke volumes about Jones, who is under pressure everywhere he turns — whether it’s from opposing pass rushers or Patriots fans itching for a change after falling out of love with the former rookie Pro Bowler.

“Yeah, I appreciate that,” Jones said after being asked about the faith Belichick is showing in him despite his struggles for the 1-4 team.

Jones is completing a career-low 62.5 percent of his passes while throwing six interceptions and five touchdowns. And the offense he leads has been downright horrific while going 34 consecutive drives without a touchdown and 24 straight drives without a point.

In the past two weeks, the Patriots have been walloped by a combined 72-3 against the Cowboys and Saints. Three of Jones’ turnovers have been returned for touchdowns.

It’s resulted in a considerable amount of soul-searching from Jones. And he hasn’t been shy about articulating the thoughts running through his head.

“What can I do better? What are the actual issues?” Jones said. “Instead of just throwing stuff up in the air, let’s look at the tape, like the plays in the game, 11-on-11 and really see what’s going on. That’s the important part to me because you can always try to problem solve that way.”

Whatever it is, it has been ugly for the Patriots. And it all starts with Jones. The key, he said, is moving forward in problem-solving mode rather than dwelling on the negatives.

“It’s not looking too good, but we’ve got to flip the switch, right?” he said. “And start over and figure out ways to go out there and have fun, sling the ball around and guys go make plays and then celebrate with each other, too. We work so hard. It’s been such a theme that we haven’t really scored a lot of points, but when we do, we’ve got to go out there and celebrate and enjoy it.”

Belichick said part of the week was starting over for the Patriots. In terms of the locker room supporting his decision to stick with Jones, he indicated it was everyone’s responsibility to take care of themselves rather than worry about anyone else.

“We all need to just focus on what each of us needs to do,” Belichick said.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow@VinnyBonsignore on X.