Mac Jones appeared to yell 'throw the (expletive) ball' on New England Patriots sideline during TNF

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones did not have a good night to kick off Week 13 of the 2022 NFL season. He threw for only 195 yards despite 36 attempts in his third straight loss to the Buffalo Bills - this time, a 24-10 "Thursday Night Football" defeat in which the outcome wasn't in question over the final two quarters.

That frustration boiled over on the sideline. Cameras caught him venting after walking off the field late in the game, appearing to shout in the direction of assistant coach Matt Patricia. And while there wasn't audio included in the clip Amazon showed during its postgame show, the first part of Jones' outburst appears clear:

“Throw the (expletive) ball.”

Jones followed that up by saying something - possibly the "run game" or "short game" or "quick game" - (expletive) "sucks." The first option wouldn't make much sense; Rhamondre Stevenson ran the ball 10 times for 54 yards. That 5.4 yard per touch average was more efficient than Jones' passing attack; 37 New England dropbacks resulted in 182 net yards (4.9 per non-scramble passing play).

"We were playing from behind and what I said was about throwing the ball deeper," Jones told reporters after the game. "It's the short game kept going to, which was working, but I felt like we needed chunk plays and I shouted that out to kind of get everyone going.

"Obviously, you don't want your emotions to get the best of you, but it wasn't directed at anybody."

Frustration with the short or quick passing game, however, could make more sense. The Bills are relatively vulnerable, compared to the rest of their defense, across an injury depleted secondary. Despite this, Jones completed exactly one pass that traveled more than 10 yards downfield.