Emory Jones has been one of the most talked about players on social media and sports-talk radio shows this week, and not in a good way.
That’s to be expected when you throw two interceptions, make several more poor decisions and throws, and fail to even reach 120 passing yards against an outmatched opponent like Florida Atlantic.
Fans are concerned about the status of the quarterback position. They want to know how a player who’s been in the program for nearly four years is still making the types of mistakes that Jones did and if they’re correctable at this point. They want to know why Dan Mullen won’t give Anthony Richardson a shot to take over the starting role.
Jones knows that negativity is out there, but he’s not going to push back against the fans.
Because he agrees with them. He was very critical of himself after the game on Saturday and was again during his Monday press conference.
“I had a lot of opportunities to make a lot of plays,” Jones said. “Could do a lot of things differently – threw better balls and make better decisions, but all I can do is just grow from it and just learn from them. I’m glad I got the opportunity to actually just get a chance to learn from all that. And just know I’ve got to do better than that and just come back and try to do better next week.
“My stats could go way better. Just the whole performance could have been way better.”
Jones wasted no time in diving into the game film and trying to figure out what went wrong. He watched film as soon as he got home from the game.
What he saw against FAU was a different version of himself than the confident player that he is in practice every day.
“I was doing some things that I don’t usually do,” he said. “Just making different type of throws that I don’t usually do. Just watching, I didn’t look very comfortable to myself, and I’m very comfortable every day in practice. I’ve been doing this for a couple years, so, just watching it, I didn’t feel like I looked really comfortable.”
Jones said that game provided him with a lesson on what it takes to succeed as a starter at this level. He believes his mistakes are easily correctable, and he hopes to play much better this Saturday at South Florida.
“Mainly, I could just tell that that was my first start,” he said. “I learned how hard the grind is of being a starter and how detailed you have to be and how locked in you have to be mentally every single play. Basically, just how much I have to pay attention to details and just lock into play after play.”
Receiver Rick Wells, who caught Jones’ only touchdown pass against the Owls, said Jones has been the same guy so far this week. He’s still pushing himself and others to play to their full potential.
“He’s been himself, a leader on and off the field, just trying to better himself, better his game,” Wells said. “He knows he has to work hard. That goes for everybody on the team. Everybody didn’t have a perfect game, so everybody has to work hard.”
Jones may not have played well in his first start, but you’ve got to root for the guy because of his self-accountability, maturity and love of his teammates.
When Richardson was wowing the crowd with his 73-yard touchdown run and his Olympic hurdler impersonation, Jones was his No. 1 cheerleader on the sideline. He doesn’t look at Richardson as a threat.
“That’s like my little brother, and I always had that relationship with other quarterbacks here that was ahead of me,” Jones said. “I’m just helping him out and just trying to be there for him and just trying to help him out all I can. And every time he’s in the game, I’m there motivating him and talking to him on the sideline, just making sure he stays locked in, just making sure he stays ready.”
Jones knows that fans and pundits will be highly critical of him this week because of his performance against FAU. He’s OK with that.
Instead of worrying about what people are saying about him, he’s focusing on correcting the source of their frustrations by playing better this week.
Jones’ head is in the right place.