New England looks to have a quarterback room with a noticeable SEC West flavor when 2021 camp opens. The Patriots, who already have former Auburn QBs Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham, drafted Alabama’s Mac Jones at No. 15 overall.

Jones told reporters that he is excited to be joining the Auburn alumni in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

“For me, I’m actually joining a really great quarterback room with Cam Newton,” Jones told reporters. “He’s played in the NFL for a really long time. He’s earned the respect of his teammates, going into New England, being a captain. You’ve got Jarrett, who I really loved watching at Auburn and have really kind of used as a role model.

“So both those guys are role models to me right now and I’m just going to go behind them and learn how they did it because they’ve seen a lot of good quarterbacks, too, like Tom (Brady) and everybody. So honestly, just kind of play my role and listen to them and take advice and help them however I can — whether it’s taking notes or whatever I need to do to help the team win.”

The Patriots re-signed Newton in March. In 2020, New England went 7-8 in the 15 games Newton started. In his 10th NFL seasons, Newton was 242-of-368 passing (65.8 completion percentage) for 2,657 yards, 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while rushing 137 times for 592 yards and 12 TDs. Stidham played in five games, going 22-of-44 passing for 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Jones said he’s ready to do what’s asked of him as a teammate.

“So it’s obviously my job to just come in and, hopefully, I’ll get a chance to meet (Newton) in person and just talk with them about what we want to accomplish as a group and it all comes back to winning games and I’m just going to help them out whenever I can.”

[H/T 247Sports]