Through the first two weeks of the NFL season, the New England Patriots struggled to produce explosive plays through the air — recording just two pass plays of 20+ yards.
That perhaps coincided with the fact that they also ranked near the bottom of the league in play-action usage, which was in large part due to 92 out of Mac Jones’ 96 pass attempts coming from the shotgun.
Speaking earlier this week, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien noted the “imbalance” in the under-center vs. shotgun split as something he hoped to improve on moving forward.
That was apparent on Sunday, as Jones was under-center on nine of their first 17 offensive plays against the New York Jets.