Mac Jones praised by former NFL quarterback for toughness, smarts in Patriots debut
By Jake Rill
Published:
Mac Jones is 1 game into his NFL career, but he’s wasted no time in making strong first impressions.
The former Alabama quarterback had a solid debut for the New England Patriots this past Sunday, going 29-for-39 for 281 yards and 1 touchdown in a 17-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Jones’ first NFL TD pass came on a 7-yard strike to Nelson Agholor in the second quarter.
There was a lot to like about Jones’ performance, and he has plenty to build off of moving forward. On Tuesday, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky discussed Jones’ showing during an appearance on ESPN’s “NFL Live,” and he had a lot of positive things to say.
“I’d say the first thing was his eyes were convicted in where he was looking,” Orlovsky said on the show. “You know, so often rookie quarterbacks come in and it’s, ‘What am I looking at?’ with all these moving parts. He knew where to go with the football. ‘OK, what’s the defense? Where am I supposed to go with the football? And when am I supposed to go there?’ And so that was really impressive.
“And then he made 4 or 5 big-boy throws. Tough throws where guys are barreling down on him. … The eyes and the toughness in which he played, I was incredibly impressed with.”
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Jones will now look to lead the Patriots to their first win of the season on Sunday, when they go on the road to face the New York Jets at 1 p.m. ET.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
