Even though this rookie quarterback class has been unimpressive, to say the least, Mac Jones has still shown glimpses of being a franchise player going forward. The New England Patriots rushed him into action and it has seemed like the right choice thus far.
Jones has thrown for 1,243 yards (6.5 yards per attempt) while completing 71.1% of his passes. He's also rushed 8 times for 50 yards, piling up 5 passing touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Those numbers, while exactly not impressive, have only gotten better week by week. He seems poised and in control more often than not, and coach Bill Belichick seems to fully trust him going forward.
NFL News: Josh McDaniels Says Mac Jones, Patriots Offense Are "Getting Closer"
Recently, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels opened up and talked about where he thinks the Alabama product stands right now, lauding how he soaks in all information on a weekly basis:
"[Mac's] learning from each one, he learns by series honestly,"McDaniels told the Patriots' website. "It's really a fun opportunity to go through this experience with a young player. It's been this way my whole career. I really enjoyed coaching the young guys because they're sponges. They are going to make a mistake here and there, it's impossible to believe they're going to go into a game and play 60 minutes and never do anything that needs correcting.
"You just take those opportunities to try to teach them and at the same time, he knows that I'm not going to lose my confidence in him. It's the National Football League, he's the starting quarterback. We've got to try to win the game and I believe in him, I trust him, I trust our entire offense. We just got to go back out there and make the right play the next time," he added.
The offensive coordinator added that the renewed Patriots' offense is getting closer to developing an identity, predicting that they'll be in much better sync during the second half of the season:
“We’re getting closer,” McDaniels added. “There’s definitely some things I think we repeat now and we feel pretty good in terms of our comfort level. I think there’s still some growing together as we work together, with one another (...) I think that that will continue to be a bit of a work in progress schematically. I think we’re trying to settle in on things that we know how to do and there’s always going to be an element each week of something that maybe we don’t do it a lot but we’re going to do it this week more. I feel better about where we’re at. I think by six-to-eight weeks you kind of know where you’re at and more than anything else, what do you want to stop trying to get good at. That’s really where you can waste your time as a coach.”
It will take a while and everybody knows you can't replace Tom Brady in just one year. Maybe you will never replace him at all. But judging by what we've seen, it seems like they'll be just fine.
