Mac Jones was forced to talk a lot about Tom Brady last week. However, you might have noticed something peculiar about how the Patriots rookie was speaking about the 44-year-old NFL legend.
As Sunday's game between New England and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers neared, fans and reporters realized that Jones had yet to mention Brady by name. Instead, the freshman quarterback used words like "his," "him" and "he."
So, was that intentional?
"Not really," Jones said Monday during a "Merloni & Fauria" WEEI interview. "They're just questions about him and obviously I answered and said what I said, that he's a great quarterback. He's been a great player for a really long time and he plays the position really well.
"Yesterday, they won and we didn't, and that's the part that stings. But you just gotta take it for what it's worth, and move on and keep working."
That seemed like a perfect opportunity for Jones to finally say Brady's name. Instead, he offered three uses of the word "he."
All of this probably is nothing more than an interesting coincidence. But the alternative -- the notion that Jones is purposely keeping Brady's name out of his mouth -- is fun to think about.
Jones and the 1-3 Patriots will visit the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon.
