QUARTERBACK MAC JONES

Press Conference
Wednesday, October 6, 2021

On what he sees from the Texans defense:

MJ: I think they play really hard. Obviously, they have some young guys and some old guys, and they do a good job of running to the ball and playing physical and playing for each other, so, schematically, they do what they do, and we just got to be ready to go, and it's an away game in a dome, so I expect it to be loud, and it just goes back to execution and doing our job.

On how he's dealing with the chaotic nature of life in the NFL:

MJ: I just think that's how it goes. Obviously, you can't get caught up in it. Obviously, just want to focus on what you can every day to get better, and things change in whatever you're doing, whatever profession. People come and go, and that's part of it, and I think, in the NFL, it just shows that you just got to be present and be where your feet are and come to work every day and things will just play out depending on how much work you put in, so the more you put in, the more you'll get out of it. Yeah, so it's just part of the game.

On if he was shocked by Gilmore's departure from the team:

MJ: I think Steph's [Gilmore], obviously, a great player, and I never got to practice against him, and he actually helped me a lot just talking with him. He's like, "Hey, I see you do this on film," or whatever, so he definitely played a good role for me just in talking with him, and all of the guys on the team have a lot of respect for him. He's a great player, and he'll continue to be a great player, and I wish him and his family nothing but success, and we don't have control over that, and it's not our decision to make that decision, so he's going to be great, and it was an honor just to get to know him, and we've just got to keep moving forward.

On how often he would talk with Gilmore:

MJ: Actually, a lot. I think just in the training room or wherever it may be. I just kind of like to talk to him, and I asked him if I ever was going to get the chance to go against him, and we just kind of talked some smack back and forth. He's a good dude, and yeah, so that's that.

On his biggest takeaway from Gilmore:

MJ: I think, like I said, he's just an all-around good football player, and, obviously, it is what it is, and we had our conversations like I had with a lot of older guys on our team, and they always have good advice, so regardless of who it is, coach, player, scouting, whatever, I just try to take the advice and listen to what they have to say and kind of take it and improve my game, whatever it may be.

On if Gilmore gave pointers on how to beat shutdown corners:

MJ: I mean, yeah. There was football stuff in there, so he had some good points.

On Tampa Bay's blitzes and how the team can improve their blitz pick-up:

MJ: I think that was kind of their M.O., and then we watched the film and got a chance to move on. When you're the quarterback, you have to expect the blitz, and you have to be ready to go, so I think we had a good plan, and we've just got to build on that and be more efficient, whatever down it is; first, second, third, fourth. We got to execute the play, and it just goes to show that it takes three bad plays to lose, in my opinion, and you've got to eliminate the bad plays. Then you'll be right there in the ball game, and the score will be different. So, that's kind of been the theme here. It sucks, but we've just got to, obviously, identify the problem and move on and get the consistency to improve, and that's something that we're harping on in practice and in meetings, so we're just trying to be more consistent as well.

On if it's been hard to shake off the losses:

MJ: Yeah. Just losing sucks. You just have to take it for what it's worth, more so in the beginning of the season, as a learning experience. I don't know. Nobody on our team likes to lose. You can play well or play not well, but you just need to score one more point than the other team. When we do that, I think we'll feel good about it and feel good about the progress. Obviously, we've made progress, but you also can't outcome think and focus so much on winning or losing and you're not focusing on what your job is, so there's two parts to this story, and you've just got to focus on the next team we're playing, and we're excited and we've just got to attack each day with that mindset.

On if he's getting into a good routine:

MJ: I think the routine, it has been more consistent. Still adjusting some things, but just sticking to it and watching what I watch every day and then talking with the other quarterbacks or with Josh [McDaniels] and just taking his advice and what I'm supposed to do each day. Yeah, so it's just as simple as that, but like I said, there's adjustments that you have to make in anything that you do so that's part of it as well.

On if the game is starting to slow down for him:

MJ: I've talked about that a little bit last time, and I think it just goes back to the unit as a whole. It's all about the operation. You're almost put in on the show and you've got to have everybody, all 11 guys, ready to roll. It starts with me, but I think whatever you do, the more reps you get at it, the more comfortable you get with it, so I think yes, and I think we have a lot of room to grow there, obviously, but the progress has been pretty good, but want to get in the win column when we're here and just try and grind it out and just eliminate those bad plays that we have identified.

On if he's comfortable giving input on the game plan yet:

MJ: Yeah. I think Josh [McDaniels], obviously, is one of the best offensive minds in football, and I always like to learn how he wants to do it, and we've had really good conversations even before, like in OTAs. "Hey, what do you like about this play or not like?" He does a great job of, obviously, attacking defenses, and my job is to see it how he sees it, and the good thing is that, I think, even from the start, we see it very similar, and, obviously, we have room to grow there. That's just an every week thing because every defense changes every week. You're not going to face the same scheme, players, coaches, etc. So, whatever the scheme on our end is for that week, by the end of the week, I feel really comfortable where I'm at. That's why we practice. We make errors and fix things and talk through it and by Sunday, I feel really prepared, and all of us do because the coaching staff does a good job of holding us to that standard. We're trying to hold each other to that standard now, too. So, that's just part of it, and like I said, as the week goes on, more conversations are had and things go in, things go out. That's just how the quarterback-offensive coordinator relationship works; probably for a lot of people too.

On how he prepares the night before a game:

MJ: The night before, by the time I go to bed, the hay, I say the hay's in the barn, so the hay's in the barn, and if there's things we need to talk about before the game, then I will and walk through that, but I try not to mentally wear down myself or think about it too much, but there's a lot of visualization and reps you can do in your head just to run through it, but it is hard to turn it off sometimes. You just need to get that time away, so whether it's just laying down and going to bed early or just not thinking about football, so.

On if he has any go-to television shows:

MJ: Not really. I've been trying to find some stuff, Netflix and stuff, but I don't really watch movies or anything. I'm bad with that. I'll either fall asleep or yeah. It's bad, so maybe I either need to continue to watch and keep my mind off of it, or yeah.

On how the New England weather has affected him:

MJ: It feels pretty good. I just wake up and go outside and just enjoy it because it is nice in the morning, but you can't control the weather, so whatever it's going to be on game day or during practice, you've just got to be ready, but the weather's been good.