Sophie Scott played an important role in Mac Jones’ successful bid for the New England Patriots’ starting job.
During an appearance Tuesday on WEEI’s “Merloni & Fauria,” Jones said Scott, his girlfriend, has helped him learn the Patriots’ notoriously complex playbook.
“Yeah, she actually does (help me),” the rookie quarterback said. “She does a good job. … Most of the time we just walk through (plays) in the yard. She helps me a lot. … We do walkthroughs.” (laughs)
This process is old hat for the young couple. According to a story by Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Scott also helped Jones with off-site training sessions ahead of the QB’s final season at Alabama:
“When the NCAA shut down football facilities during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Jones set up a net in the living room of his apartment, gathered a bag of footballs, took them outside and fired passes through an open window to stay sharp. Then after teaching his girlfriend the Alabama playbook, they’d go to the gym at night and set up more nets, and she’d shout out plays so he could make the subsequent checks and deliver more passes. It was all part of his mission to win the starting job in a competition against five-star recruit Bryce Young.”
Jones has won quarterback battles in each of the last two preseasons, beating out the highly touted Young last summer and prevailing over veteran Cam Newton last month. During his competition against Newton, teammates and coaches praised Jones’ intelligence, work ethic, leadership and ability to identify and eliminate mistakes.
“I’ve kind of found stuff that works for me,” Jones said on WEEI, explaining his learning process. “I’ve learned from a lot of older guys on the team, just (asking), ‘Hey, how did you do this? How did you learn all these plays?’ It just takes a little bit of time, but I put a lot of time in it when I first got here, and obviously, every day I stick to my schedule. I just try and break it down and watch film but also focus on the things that we want to do.
“A lot of times, I’m very visual, so that definitely helps. Some people obviously are visual or they learn in different ways, but for me, I’ve just always been a very visual learner, and that helps to see it, whether it’s drawing (plays) or walking through it or doing it.”
Jones is set to make his first NFL start this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
