Julian Edelman weighs in on Mac Jones: "He's still having rookie-type throws"

BOSTON -- You can't last in New England if you can't handle hearing some tough criticism. Everyone who's played for Bill Belichick knows that.

Yet now several years removed from his playing days, Julian Edelman now finds himself dishing out that criticism for current Patriots, after he saw some ugly quarterback play from Mac Jones on Sunday in Dallas.

"This is a quarterback league," Edelman said on The Ryen Rusillo Podcast. "You have to have a quarterback that fits your system to win games. And right now Mac hasn't been developing at the rate that they want. He's still having rookie-type throws."

Jones had his worst game as a pro on Sunday, throwing two interceptions -- one of which was returned for a touchdown -- and losing a fumble that was also returned for a Dallas defensive score. Edelman said that these Patriots aren't the type to flip around, say, a 28-3 deficit on an opponent.

"You can't go out and do what he did. That was bad football. You can't throw late across the field twice in four plays," Edelman said. "He's very out of sync right now, and it was bad. You've gotta take care of the football. Bill's gonna preach that. Guys, we need to take care of the football. Because once you start doing that, that team's not designed, the Patriots aren't designed to play from behind."

While Edelman understands there's a lot more to the game than just one player, he also pointed out that nothing can really work with quarterback play like that.

"They're not playing the way they should be playing to win football games. And it comes down to the quarterback," he said.