Patriots' Josh McDaniels on Mac Jones' Start to Season: 'I Trust Him Completely'

Rookie quarterback Mac Jones earned the first victory of his NFL career Sunday when he led the New England Patriots to a 25-6 win over the New York Jets, and he also has the complete trust of his offensive coordinator despite some early conservative play-calling.

"I trust him completely," Josh McDaniels said, per Zack Cox of NESN. "Believe me, there's not a whole lot we're holding back for him."

Despite the trust, McDaniels has not asked Jones to take many chances through his first two games.

Cox cited Next Gen Stats and noted Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton are the only quarterbacks with lower average-depth-of-target marks than Jones. What's more, the Patriots rookie is a mere 24th in yards per attempt at 6.8 and threw just four passes more than 15 yards downfield in Sunday's win.

That stands in stark contrast to the eight passes he threw at or behind the line of scrimmage.

There is some give and take with that approach when it comes to young players. After all, his rookie counterpart Zach Wilson threw four interceptions in that head-to-head matchup. Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Justin Fields (Chicago Bears) also threw costly interceptions for their teams in Sunday's action.

Jones doesn't have an interception yet and is someone who is accustomed to relying on the talent around him given Alabama's roster that won the national championship with DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris last season.

He is also learning on the fly as the starter, and deeper passes were anything but necessary in the straightforward win over the Jets with the defense dominating, Damien Harris scoring on a long run and Nick Folk making all four of his field-goal attempts.

New England has a number of high-profile games on the horizon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and more.

McDaniels' trust will likely lead to more aggressive calls in some of those contests.