Tom Brady was afforded a pretty significant luxury when he kickstarted his NFL career with the New England Patriots.
In addition to working under arguably the greatest head coach in league history, Brady rarely was asked to go out and put the team on his back over his first handful of seasons as the Patriots’ starter. That’s because New England had such a stout defense, which was the backbone of the first iteration of the organization’s dynasty.
Mac Jones, however, might not be so lucky. The Patriots’ defense was pretty strong in Jones’ rookie season before spiraling late in the campaign, but the unit experienced a considerable makeover over the offseason. As such, Julian Edelman can’t help but wonder if New England’s defense will be good enough to allow Jones to develop at a proper pace as an NFL sophomore.
“They (early 2000s Patriots) weren’t tossing the ball out after the stadium. It was a defensive-built team,” Edelman said on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast, as transcribed by MassLive. “That’s the thing that I’m worried about with the Patriots. Is their defense gonna be there to allow Mac to have this slow progression into becoming what he becomes?”
The scary thing is, question marks surrounding the Patriots’ defense might not be the biggest Jones-related concern. New England fans might want to be more worried about how the Patriots’ new-look offensive coaching staff will handle Jones in Year 2.
All told, the 2022 season has a chance to be a very demanding and trying one for the young signal-caller.
