Former Alabama QB discusses impact of Tom Brady in early career: ‘He’s a great mentor’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones is entering Year 3 with the New England Patriots after being drafted in 2021.
Jones comes to Boston 2 years after Tom Brady’s departure, filling a void left by Cam Newton in 2020. Recently, Jones appeared on Boston sports radio WEEI’s “Jones and Lego” to discuss the impact Brady has had on his early career.
Brady will be honored in Boston during the Patriots’ home opener against the Eagles this Sunday.
“He’s definitely a legend. I have all the respect for him, he’s a great guy,” Jones said, via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com. “He’s actually helped me a lot already, just talking to him or whatever. He’s been a great mentor.”
Jones has not had an incredible NFL start, to say the least.
Let’s not go comparing Jones to Tom Brady outside of the following, but the latter did not have the best start to his NFL career either from a purely statistical perspective. Brady didn’t start putting up strong numbers until Year 3 in New England and didn’t break 4,000 passing yards as he did regularly in his prime until Year 6.
Of course, the Patriots still won the Super Bowl in Brady’s 2nd year with the team, but he easily had a better squad surrounding him compared to Jones.
Yeah, that’s no joke. Jones enters 2023 with a supporting cast of players who are just far past their prime: Juju Smith-Schuster, Ezekiel Elliott, Davante Parker, the list goes on and on.
Point is this: Jones has a huge hill to climb and not a lot of time to do it. Let’s see if he can turn things around in Year 3.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
