Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is helped off the field after suffering an ankle injury with less than two minutes left in New England’s 37-26 loss to Baltimore on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones hopped off the field, unable to put any weight on his left leg.
His third interception sealed the Patriots’ 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
The injury could doom the rest of their season.
Jones left the field in obvious pain and needed to be helped to the locker room. He was not available to reporters because of what the team said was a leg injury.
According to the NFL Network, X-rays on the quarterback’s ankle were negative. The Athletic reported that Jones will have an MRI on Monday.
Jones was injured when Ravens lineman Calais Campbell brought him down in the backfield just as he unloaded a pass toward Kendrick Bourne just after the two-minute warning. Marcus Peters came down with the ball for an interception, and the 307-pound Campbell came down on Jones’ left leg.
Jones grimaced in pain, reached for his ankle and then pulled himself up on one leg before hopping off the field and heading to the locker room. Photos of him heading down the stairs, with someone under each arm to help him, showed him in what appeared to be extreme pain.
“Just trying to get pressure on him. Hit him. Make him uncomfortable,” Campbell said. “I hate to see him get hurt. That’s the worst part of the game. I hope he is OK.”
Coach Bill Belichick said he had no information on the injury. Patriots spokesman Stacey James confirmed that Jones had a leg injury and would not be available. While reporters waited near Jones’ locker, a team employee came and gathered his things.
”Mac is a hell of a quarterback,” Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon said. “We don’t know what happened. I’m riding with (No.) 10. We have to play in the parking lot, we play at Gillette (Stadium), whatever. I’m riding with him.”
Jones completed 22 of 32 passes for 321 yards, and he also made like Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson by scampering for a 3-yard score – his first career rushing touchdown. But Jones, who has never missed a start, has now been injured twice this season, and this one appeared serious.
Jones also injured his back in the Patriots’ Week 1 loss to Miami.
“Playing quarterback in this league, you take some hits. It’s tough,” defensive back Devin McCourty said. “I know if he has something he can go and play with, he’s going to play with it. … I think we’ll continue to rally around him.”
Jones threw three interceptions. He was picked off in the third quarter, on the second play after Jackson hit Devin Duvernay for a 4-yard touchdown that gave the Ravens a 28-20 lead. He was intercepted again with nine minutes left in the fourth, overthrowing DeVante Parker in the end zone after New England drove to the Baltimore 10.
The Patriots have 36-year-old Brian Hoyer as their backup, with rookie Bailey Zappe as their No. 3 quarterback. Hoyer has played for seven teams in 14 seasons – including three stints with New England – almost all of it as a backup.
“Brian Hoyer, he’s a leader. He’s a vet. He knows the defenses,” Parker said. “He’s seen it all.”
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