They’ve been impressed by the rookie’s first season.
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With the Miami Dolphins preparing to play the New England Patriots Sunday afternoon, they will face rookie quarterback Mac Jones for the second time this season.
In their first matchup, Jones completed 29-of-39 pass attempts for 281 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t overly impressive, but he did enough to keep them in the game, but a late-game fumble from Damien Harris ended up giving the Dolphins the victory in their season opener.
On the year, New England’s first-year signal-caller has brought them to a 10-6 record while completing 67.6% of his passes for 3,540 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. His play has even garnered the attention of some of Miami’s best defenders.
“Mac Jones is a really good player for them,” Emmanuel Ogbah said. “Coach Belichick found a gem in this draft, so we just gotta do a good job containing him. We gotta stop the run game too. He’s doing a phenomenal job them so far.”
Ogbah will be tasked with getting after Jones on Sunday. Jones gets the ball out quicker than most, so Ogbah and his fellow pass rushers won’t have the easiest time getting to him. However, the man Jones will try to complete passes on had some kind words for him as well.
“I feel like he’s been improved this whole season,” Howard said. “When I first played him, in Week 1, and I see him play and the stuff he was doing I’m like ‘bro, he’s not a rookie.’ He was doing some stuff like he’d been in the league a minute. I just been seeing him improve, and I’m looking forward to seeing him this week.”
Jones has looked good for a rookie, but Miami’s defense, led by Howard, has shown that they are one of the stronger units in the league. They should be able to frustrate the quarterback and get him to make a mistake or two.
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