The NFL debut of Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones was met with near universal praise from those inside and outside New England, and Shannon Sharpe was among them.
Sharpe, the co-host of FS1's "Undisputed" with Skip Bayless, was extremely complimentary of Jones after the Patriots' season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. And Sharpe even went on to share why head coach Bill Belichick should be encouraged by the result.
"I would be encourage because the moment didn't seem too big for my rookie quarterback starting his first game in the NFL," Sharpe said during Monday's show. "He looked very comfortable. He looks like he's been here, done that before.
"He threw the ball yesterday with some velocity. I know the first game we saw him and were like 'Damn, the arm don't look too tight to me.' But now he's driving the ball. The way he's protecting the ball, climbing the pocket, going through his progressions. He looks really good."
While Sharpe was impressed by the No. 15 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, who threw his first career touchdown, he wasn't overly impressed by the effort of the Patriots. New England finished the game with an uncharacteristic two turnovers including a game-altering fumble by running back Damien Harris.
"What surprised me is that we're not used to seeing a Patriot team committing these kind of mistakes down the stretch. They force other teams to commit these types of mistakes down the stretch," Sharpe continued. "Harris fumbling the football, I would've bet money that he wouldn't have done this because it looks like they're about to to go in and take the lead either with a touchdown or kick the field goal."
Harris' fumble did take place at a very poor time as the Patriots entered the red zone with the time ticking down and trailing 17-16, the final verdict.
But while the Week 1 loss ultimately isn't how New England wanted to start the season, it's fair to say a bigger long-term question was answered by the play of Jones.
