FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Josh McDaniels has seen the best of Mac Jones. Of course, he’s also seen the worst.

The former Patriots offensive coordinator – and now coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, New England’s opponent this week – was last in New England when Jones was a rookie and helped the  quarterback to what has been the best year of his career. That year, Jones finished with 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also finished eighth in the NFL with a 67.6 completion percentage.

Last year, when the Patriots faced the Raiders, McDaniels’ defense gave Jones all he could handle. That game saw Jones complete a season-low 41.9% of his passes. He finished with just 112 passing yards and no touchdowns.

On Sunday, in a game where Jones must improve, McDaniels said he’s preparing to see the best version of the Patriots quarterback.

“He’s a very talented player. Accuracy has always been a huge part of his game, touch, anticipation. He has all those things at a very high level,” McDaniels said. “They’ve battled the same bug we’ve battled honestly, with the turnovers and losing opportunities through change of possession. So, I’m sure that’s something that they’re going to work hard at limiting and getting rid of, and it’s the same thing we’re talking about. But this is a guy who’s a very capable passer in every situation.”

In 2021, under McDaniels, Jones finished 13th in the NFL in passing yards and tied for 14th in passing touchdowns. He hasn’t been able to find that same success over the past two years under offensive coordinators Matt Patricia and Bill O’Brien.

Coming off two rough outings in which he was benched against Dallas and New Orleans, Jones needs to bounce back against McDaniels and the Raiders. His former offensive coordinator expects nothing less.

“He’s played big, and (in) big games,” McDaniels said. “He’s battled against really good teams, made some high-level throws and hung in there. Very tough in the pocket, gets hit and gets right up and goes to the next play. So, a lot of respect for him, a lot of admiration for what he did when I was there. It’ll be a big challenge for us this week.”

PRACTICE REPORT: Just five weeks into the season, the Patriots are already sporting a CVS-receipt-style injury report, with a season-high 16 players listed on Thursday.

Kyle Dugger was a new addition with a foot injury. The safety was scheduled to speak with the media after practice, but that availability was scratched.

Of the injured players, only three missed practice – Pop Douglas (concussion), JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion), Matthew Judon (elbow) – while 13 others were limited. With Douglas and Smith-Schuster both missing back-to-back practices in the concussion protocol, they’re highly doubtful for Sunday’s game.

On the Raiders side, WR Davante Adams (shoulder) and DE Maxx Crosby (knee) were both limited participants.