Learning a new playbook and offensive system can be a challenge for any rookie quarterback. Mac Jones appears to be off to a strong start in New England.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about Jones during his latest media availability and praised the former Alabama standout while still noting Jones “has a long way to go.”

“I think Mac has a pretty good understanding of the things that we do,” Belichick told reporters. “He has to go out there and do them and get comfortable with them, so it’s a process and we’ve had a number of other players at that quarterback position come in and go through that.

“Sometimes it starts a little slower and then picks up, sometimes it starts a little higher and slows down. We’ll just have to see how it goes but he’s working hard. He puts in a lot of time and certainly, giving his very best effort to do everything we’ve asked him to do and do it the way that we’ve asked him to do it, which is a great place to start. He’s earned a lot of respect for that but he’s got a long way to go and we’ll see how it goes.”

Jones will look to continue to impress as he and the other Patriots quarterbacks will get more opportunities with Cam Newton sidelined by injury.