What Mac Jones and Stephon Gilmore saw on the Patriots QB’s interception vs. Panthers

Mac Jones threw his first interception in three weeks, and the recipient should come as little surprise: Stephon Gilmore.

Gilmore joined the Carolina Panthers earlier this season in a trade from the New England Patriots. Prior to his departure, Gilmore spent plenty of hours working with Jones to prepare the rookie QB for his starts and guide him on how to play opposing cornerbacks. That was useful when Gilmore was a Patriot. Now that he’s a Panther, it likely worked against New England. In the Patriots’ Week 9 win over the Panthers, Gilmore seemed to have an increased level of anticipation against the Patriots offense, which he practiced against for years.

“I was going against Jakobi [Meyers] and I know how he releases off the ball,” Gilmore told reporters after the game. “So, I gave him room and beat him to the spot. You know he kind of ran into his own player, but I was going to beat him there anyway. So just film study and knowing who I am going against.”

New England set up a rub route to help tight end Jonnu Smith and Meyers work off one another. The problem was that they ended up working against one another, with neither player creating separation. In fact, Meyers got knocked out of the play, which left Gilmore to make an uncontested play on the ball. Jones thrown with anticipation — it burnt him.

“I mean I threw the ball right to the guy. A lot of people could catch that. … I can do better with my reads and all that stuff. I just have to look in the mirror and see what I can do better,” Jones said after the game. “I am not really sure what happened. I will have to look at the film, but you know they just ran into each other. But, I can’t just throw to the guy. That is pretty much it.”

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