Mac Jones has impressed plenty of people during his rookie year, including his former teammate Tua Tagovailoa.
The two quarterbacks spent two seasons together as teammates at the University of Alabama but found themselves on opposing sidelines in Week 18 as the New England Patriots traveled to Miami to take on the Dolphins in the regular-season finale at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami came away victorious and actually swept the season series against the Patriots, but Tagovailoa still had nothing but positive things to say when asked how it felt to beat his former teammate.
“I don’t ever look at it as me vs. another quarterback or me vs. another running back or whatever. It’s always our offense vs. their defense and whatever we’ve got to do to put points on the board and give our team opportunities to put points on the board,” Tagovailoa said. “So I don’t really dive into all of the me vs. Mac talk or any of that. I feel like Mac did a hell of a job towards the ending of this game and really towards the beginning of the season. He’s grown a lot as a player. Watching his game I couldn’t be more proud of him. I’m happy for him and wish him the best of luck as they go into the playoffs.”
Both Jones and Tagovailoa have come a long way since their days with the Crimson Tide and each saw massive turnarounds this season. The Patriots notably started 2-4 to open the campaign, but then won seven straight games and eight of their final 11 to finish the regular season 10-7 and earn a trip to the postseason after missing out last year.
Tagovailoa was banged up at points, but the Dolphins began the year 1-7 before winning eight of their final nine games to finish the season with a winning record of 9-8, just on the outside looking in for the playoffs.
The future certainly is bright for the duo.
