Before the New England Patriots’ preseason opener against the Washington Football Team, Mac Jones approached Cam Newton for some wisdom.
Jones, the 15th overall pick in 2021, needed to pick the brain of Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011. It would be Jones’ first look at live action in the NFL. The preseason isn’t technically Jones’ first appearance. But he certainly played against NFL-caliber players, with drives against first-string and second-string defenders. Newton said Jones approached him before the game.
“For him to come out there, I know he came to me and talked to me and we talked it out about just his expectation,” Newton said during a postgame press conference. “Every young quarterback goes through it, the excitement, the anticipation. He wants to be so perfect, and I see his preparation is always pristine. That’s what I admire about him, being at such a young age he knows how to prepare and knows when Josh asks quick questions or when a person asks quick questions he knows how to kind of have answers for it.”
Jones didn’t start the game. Newton was QB1 with two drives at the beginning of the first quarter. He went 4 of 7 for 49 yards, with one of his two drives ending with a field goal.
The rookie quarterback led his position group with 33 snaps (56%), and was 13 of 19 for 87 yards, a sack and a pair of missed deep-ball opportunities. One of the long balls hit receiver Kristian Wilkerson in the hands. One of them was too far for Gunner Olszewski to haul in.
“For him and today’s performance, he’s just going to keep getting better, and we’re going to be here for each other along this whole process, and that’s what we’re here for,” Newton said.
Jones didn’t speak to the media after the game, with the Patriots tending to keep rookies from commenting after their first game.
“Some good things,” Bill Belichick said Friday when asked about Jones. “In general, we need to play faster, react faster.”
It seems Newton is being a bit more open about his feelings on Jones than Belichick — which should surprise no one.
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