Jonathan Jones in âuncharted territoryâ with Patriots

In Jonathan Jones’ first three seasons with New England, the Patriots went to the Super Bowl annually and won the NFL championship twice.

But in its past two games, New England has been beaten 38-3 by the Dallas Cowboys and 34-0 by the New Orleans Saints to drop to 1-4 for the 2023 NFL season.

“It’s a little bit different,” Jones said on Thursday. “I’ll speak for myself. I’m always kind of used to looking over to my right and seeing (safety) Devin (McCourty, who retired after the 2022 season) there and kind of leaning on him for guidance. I’d reach out for him. But even for him, it’d be uncharted territory, so just sticking together. Keeping a calm head and just trying to take it day-by-day. That’s what this game is. It’s a new week every week and just trying to improve.”

The past two games have provided the most lopsided loss and the most lopsided home loss since Bill Belichick became the head coach of the Patriots in 2000.

The most recent New England team with a 1-4 record was Belichick’s first. The 2000 Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Cols 24-16 in their sixth game on their way to a 5-11 record. New England didn’t win fewer than nine games in a season again until 2020 and won six Super Bowls in between.

“The standard’s still the same,” Jones said. “How you win football games in this league is not going to change. It’s hard for him to change when the things that we need to do are consistent, and that’s play good offense, play good defense and play good special teams. We’ve kind of always said that since I’ve been here and long before I’ve been here is playing good complimentary football, and that’s what we have get to.”

The former Auburn standout was asked about having to adjust to different cornerback partners through injuries, an off-the-field incident and a trade this year, but Jones’ answer could have applied to the Patriots’ season or his injury setback.

“It’s just mental adversity,” Jones said. “You just kind of deal with it. It’s part of this game. Going into Year 8, you just kind of expect it. There’s going to be ups and downs. You kind of weather the storm. It’s a long season and try to just show up every day and put your best foot forward.”

An ankle injury prevented Jones from playing in the second through fourth games for New England this season.

“I enjoy being out there,” Jones said. “It’s tough to sit back and watch the guys go out there and play, so it’s just exciting to be back out there.”

After the Patriots lost to New Orleans, Belichick said the team would “start all over” to try to turn around the season.

“Coach kind of set the tempo of just starting over,” Jones said. “When you look at it, we’re not out of the playoffs. We’re not out of anything, but our record is what we’ve earned, and just trying to move forward from it and continue to improve.”

Jones defined what “starting over” meant.

“I think in every phase, it’s just fundamentals,” Jones said. “Start with your fundamentals. On defense, it’s tackling. Last week, we missed a lot of key tackles. On offense, blocking, catching – just doing the simple things right, that’s kind of what wins football games, and kind of starting over in that area.”

On the New England roster, only special-teamer Matthew Slater, long snapper Joe Cardona and center David Andrews have played for the Patriots longer than Jones, who is in his eighth season since joining New England as an undrafted rookie in 2016. As with McCourty before them, Jones said it’s up to him and those other veterans to get the younger players in line with the Patriot Way.

“I think it’s just those guys continuing to set that standard,” Jones said. “Letting those younger guys know how things have been done and how they’re going to continue to be done around here and what it takes to win football games. And just kind of following suit and not making the little mistakes, and little things add up. And just being that veteran leadership.”

The Patriots’ next chance to get on track comes against the Las Vegas Raiders at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.