Mac Jones’ path to becoming a starter in the NFL is unprecedented.
The No. 15 overall pick beat out Cam Newton for the role and he’s the first rookie to start under Bill Belichick for the New England Patriots. Even the route he took to fall down to the Patriots in the draft was unlikely. And now, he’s been given the keys to lead the Patriots following an era that consisted of winning and excellence from Tom Brady.
Brady, who’s the greatest player to touch an NFL field, still didn’t have the magnitude of responsibility that’s on Jones’ shoulders when he first became the starter. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss joined WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Friday morning and explained this in further detail.
“There was a different strategy when Tommy started playing because we were loaded on defense. So the way we played at that time, at least when Tommy first started the year, was very conservative,” Weis said. “We were dinking and dunking, everyone was saying, ‘The guy can’t throw the ball down the field’ because we weren’t throwing the ball down the field. Obviously, the Patriots now are doing a lot more of exposing Mac to everything than we did to Tommy at the start of the year.
“Now, by the end of the year the guy is running two-minute to win the Super Bowl. Obviously, we went a long way from when he first went in there. Mac/the Patriots are ahead of the curve as far as all the stuff they are doing with him already in games where probably it took us half the season before we got there with Tommy.”
Following the much-anticipated Week 1 matchup, Weiss believes the Patriots will continue to add to Jones’ responsibilities.
“I think the philosophy there has always been find out what they can do and do that, and then expand from there,” he said. “I think Josh [McDaniels] and the rest of the staff — Josh, Bill [Belichick] and everyone else — is starting to feel comfortable. ‘OK, these things we know he’s comfortable with. Now we can grow from there.’”
Jones threw 29 of 39 for 281 yards and a touchdown, while converting 11 of 16 third downs in the Patriots’ 17-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. He was cool and collective while spreading the ball around and he’ll have an easier matchup this week against the New York Jets.
From the looks of things currently — Jones could look like a true seasoned veteran mid-season.
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