Mac Jones was the fifth quarterback selected in the 2021 NFL Draft, and for most of his rookie season, it looked like the New England Patriots struck gold.
Jones wasn’t overly impressive, especially down the stretch last year. But he had the most immediate success of the five QBs taken in Round 1 — a group that also includes Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Zach Wilson of the New York Jets, Trey Lance of the San Francisco 49ers and Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears.
Flash forward to this season, and the narrative has shifted. Jones, who missed three games with a high ankle sprain, not only has struggled to build upon his first-year progress. He actually has regressed, to the point where some Patriots fans would prefer to see rookie backup Bailey Zappe under center.
So, is it time to sound the alarm in Foxboro? The MMQB’s Albert Breer revealed Thursday on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition” that skepticism regarding Jones’ potential exists across the league.
“I feel like there’s some doubts about the quarterback,” Breer said, as transcribed by NBCSports.com. “(Wednesday night), I asked around. I texted a half-dozen execs and said, ‘Who would be the second quarterback to go in the 2021 draft if you re-drafted them now?’ Four of them said Fields, one of them said he’d stick to his guns on Trey Lance because he hasn’t seen him enough, and another one said Wilson. None of them said Mac.”
Again, that’s a far cry from last season, when Jones looked like the best QB in the ’21 class. Now, one could make the case that all four of the other first-round quarterbacks would be worth choosing over Jones — just as they were roughly 19 months ago.
“One thing some of these people who evaluated him have told me consistently over the course of this year is it doesn’t look like (Jones) trusts the offense,” Breer said. “When he goes out there, he’s clutching the ball. You see a lot of it where it doesn’t look like he’s trusting what he’s seeing, which is a different player than what we saw last year. So I think the first thing is getting him concepts that he trusts. Figuring out what he likes and focusing on that.”
The Patriots are entering a crucial stretch in their season, beginning with a Week 11 matchup with the Jets at Gillette Stadium. How Jones performs in the coming weeks could determine a lot about his long-term future in New England.
