New England Patriots Mac Jones Supports JuJu Smith-Schuster After Key Drop?

New England Patriots receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster's drop led to a game-ending interception on Sunday, but quarterback Mac Jones still has his back.

New England Patriots receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has been under heavy criticism since he arrived in Foxboro this offseason, but those complaints reached a new peak after Sunday's loss to the Washington Commanders.

Ironically, Smith-Schuster had his best statistical game yet as a Patriot as he hauled in six passes for 51 yards. He even made a huge play on New England's final drive, picking up six yards on fourth and four to keep the Patriots alive. That victory was short-lived, though, as just two plays later, the ball bounced off Smith-Schuster's hands and into the arms of Washington cornerback Jartavius Martin for a game-ending interception.

It's easy to get frustrated at Smith-Schuster for the mistake, especially considering his lack of production this season. That said, quarterback Mac Jones still has his receiver's back even after that mistake.

Smith-Schuster's drop at the end of Sunday's game :: AP Photo/Greg M. Coope

“We’re good,” Jones said on WEEI's Jones and Mego Show. “I told him if you don’t make the play before that one, then we’re not there. It’s football. It’s a bang-bang play. It’s always like that in the NFL, right? It goes one way or the other. You make the play and maybe you go into overtime. And if you don’t, you don’t.

“It is what it is. I can do things better throughout the game to not even be in that position. Everyone wants to put one thing on one player, but we’re all in this together. That’s how we approach it.”

Even though the drop essentially ended the game, blaming the loss entirely on Smith-Schuster would be facetious. Jones and the rest of the offense had their own struggles, the defense saw two of its better corners benched in J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones and special teams were a problem throughout the entire game, particularly in the fourth quarter.

Regardless of the reason, a loss is a loss and the only thing the Patriots can do now is pick themselves up and move forward.

“It’s the performance business," Mac Jones said. "For us, it’s a lot of things. You want to have better games. You want to stack games. You want to stack days.”

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