Patriots fans can take a sigh of relief with Mac Jones injury

The Patriots got good Mac Jones injury news after Sunday’s loss: The quarterback doesn’t have a serious problem and could play in Week 2.

The indignity of losing a Week 1 game to the Dolphins was almost compounded for the Patriots with quarterback Mac Jones dealing with a back injury.

Well, Patriots fans, you can let out that breath you were holding. The QB isn’t seriously hurt.

Tom Pelissero reported that x-rays came back negative while Ian Rapoport added that the issue appears to be back spasms.

Mac Jones injury update: Patriots QB dealing with back spasms

There could have been a much worse outcome if tests had come back with any abnormalities. In the grand scheme of things, back spasms are much more manageable outcome.

Mike Reiss of ESPN reported that Jones “felt notably better upon his return to Massachusetts.” So that’s good news.

That doesn’t mean Jones is out of the woods. Spasms can linger and the team will have to keep a sharp eye out as the quarterback deals with the issue.

It doesn’t help that Jones is playing behind an unreliable offensive line that gave him three seconds or more to throw on just three percent of his dropbacks against the Dolphins.

It’s one thing to have a quarterback with a back concern. There’s a whole other level of concern when you have a quarterback with a back concern and he’s constantly taking punishment from the pass rush.

The Dolphins made life miserably for Jones and the Patriots on Sunday, leading 17-0 at halftime. Jones completed 21-of-30 passes for 213 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He took two sacks and had a middling quarterback rating of 87.2. His QBR was 9.7, which was the worst in the league.

If he’s well enough to play in Week 2, he’ll face a Steelers defense that terrorized Joe Burrow with seven sacks, albeit without All-Pro T.J. Watt because of his own injury.