MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones remains winless against the Miami Dolphins. And he probably isn’t looking forward to the New Year’s Day rematch for a bunch of reasons.
Not the least of which: The Dolphins hit him so hard Sunday, it hurt.
New England Patriots QB Mac Jones injury update
Jones played every snap of Sunday’s 20-7 Patriots loss, but in doing so, he suffered a back injury that was significant enough that he went for X-rays after the game. As a result, Jones, who started all 17 games plus New England’s Wild Card loss as a rookie, was not made available to reporters after the game.
Since Jones never left the game, it was unclear when he got hurt. Patriots coach Bill Belichick shed no light on the situation in his post-game news conference.
“I haven’t been in the training room,” Belichick told reporters.
Jones was sacked twice, hit three times, and tackled on two other running plays by a constantly blitzing Dolphins defense. One of those sacks — by Dolphins safety Brandon Jones — resulted in a fumble that Melvin Ingram returned for a touchdown.
Jones completed 21 of 30 passes for 213 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. If he is unable to play next Sunday against the Steelers, Brian Hoyer would get the start.
Jones not only got hurt, he also lost the battle of former Alabama teammates. Tua Tagovailoa completed 23 of 33 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown to improve to 4-0 against Belichick all-time.
Austin Jackson injury shuffles offensive line
The Dolphins’ new-look offensive line lasted all of a quarter and change. By the time Sunday’s game ended, all three active tackles were dealing with some sort of injury, and as a result, three Dolphins linemen played three different positions.
Here are the injuries, in chronological order:
Austin Jackson, who made the move from left tackle to right when Terron Armstead arrived in March, left the game in the first half with an ankle injury. He did not return.
His replacement: Greg Little, who beat out Larnel Coleman as the team’s swing tackle during training camp.
The Dolphins did have other options — such as moving either Liam Eichenberg or Robert Hunt from guard to tackle — but Mike McDaniel decided to keep Miami’s other four linemen in their starting spots.
That is, until Little got hurt on the second play of the second half. The Dolphins had no other tackle to bring in off the bench, so they moved Hunt to right tackle and had Robert Jones play right guard.
“I’m always ready,” Hunt said after the game, of the move to tackle. “I was definitely surprised though. But you’ve got to be ready in this business. You never know what’s going to happen. It’s a next-man-up mentality. I think I was ready.”
Fortunately for Miami, Little was able to return on the next series. But that wasn’t the end of their problems.
Terron Armstead missed a series or so with an undisclosed issue that sent him to the blue medical tent for a good five minutes. While he was out, Eichenberg moved to left tackle and Jones played left guard.
“That was unfortunate, but stuff happens,” said Eichenberg, Miami’s starting left guard. “I saw my buddy Rob Jones come in. He was like ‘You, left tackle.’ I was like, ‘All right.'”
Armstead did eventually return and after the game downplayed his ailment.
The Patriots had their own injury issues, even beyond the Jones issue. Safety Adrian Phillips hurt his ribs in the second quarter and did not return.