So he limited one Wednesday practice in week 5 and it affected him the rest of the year despite not being on the injury report.
And Mac was not toast from the start. He played pretty well the first three weeks of the season. He arguably outplayed Jalen Hurts. He threw for 316 yards and 3 TDs in that game. Might have been four if Boutte dragged his second foot at the end of the game. And of course he played well against the Bills.
Jonnu played hurt late in the year in November, for 3 games.
But in any way, I disagree with you totally on Mac. I mean, I posted here an entire new thread explaining my reasons why in week 2.
I backed Mac the first 2 years because I allowed for the dysfunction of Patricia, but I think I should have paid a little more attention to the way he cried when he left the field after he hurt his ankle.
Week 2, this is what I wrote after the Phins game:
[Mac] is not seeing the game, not taking command, not playing the head games a QB needs to play with a defense to put his offense and the OL in optimal positions.
"He's jittery, he's skittish, he's throwing off his back foot. He's taking bad sacks. No wonder he's so inaccurate. His long throws are lollipops that bounce off the moon. There is zero confidence he can get anything done back there.
I gave Mac the benefit of the doubt until now, but you can't have a guy cowering back there and not controlling the game. He is the biggest problem. People will talk about the lack of offensive weapons, but the fact is, the QB controls the game, especially at home, and he doesn't maximize his talents or the meager talents of his WRs.
Bill O'Brien has to see this, but it's Mac's 3rd year and I'm not sure what can be done at this point.
I don't have the patience with him to see if he develops into a Geno Smith maybe 5 years down the line. I don't think he will ever even be a Geno Smith.
The O-line will get better, the continuity will improve, Mac will get more comfortable behind it, but when it's crunch time and the defense sends the house in crucial situations, when the heat turns up, especially against good teams, Mac will not answer the call. The good play we'll see from him in the coming weeks will be a mirage.
Oh, and one last thing: Make someone else play FS. We need Dugger up near the line of scrimmage causing havoc."