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New England Patriots: Why it’s not time to crown Mac Jones

By Sam Minton

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 11: Mac Jones #10 of the Alabama Crimson Tide throws the ball during the College Football Playoff National Championship football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 11, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 11: Mac Jones #10 of the Alabama Crimson Tide throws the ball during the College Football Playoff National Championship football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 11, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /
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OTA’s have arrived and New England Patriots fans will know what that means. It’s time to overreact about how players perform in May.

One of the players who will have the most eyes on them is rookie QB Mac Jones. With New England selecting him 15th overall, there will be high expectations.

Jones is coming off a great junior season where he threw for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. He is the future of New England’s offense.

With OTA’s now underway we are starting to get our first look at Jones in New England. While he is not wearing his usual No.10 since Bill Belichick likes to make his rookies wear numbers in the 50’s, Jones seems to be making quite the impression.

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The media have claimed that he looked like one of the best quarterbacks on the entire team. Bob Socci said he far and away looked better than Jarrett Stidham.

Jones’ new teammates also seem to be impressed. Kendrick Bourne noticed an aura of confidence that he didn’t exactly expect from the rookie. Hunter Henry was also impressed with Jones.

"“Mac’s doing a great job,” tight end Hunter Henry said. “We’re just all going through it together, him being even new to the atmosphere of this next level. Good to have him here, and we’re all excited for him.”"

So with all this great news about Jones, Patriots fans might be willing to just hand the starting job to Jones but that would be a big mistake.

Why now is not the time to crown Mac Jones the New England Patriots starting quarterback

Let’s take a trip through time to last year. At this exact time, Patriots fans were hearing about how great Jarrett Stidham is.

Teammates were hyping him up and media members were falling in love with him. Then Stidham began to struggle and now he seems like a prime candidate to be cut this offseason.

While the same fate isn’t destined for Jones, the best plan for New England is to take things slow with Jones. Ideally, fans should be hoping that he doesn’t start at all this year.

Jones should just sit back and learn from Newton and Brian Hoyer. When it comes to the Patriots offense, you can’t have a better teacher than the veteran Hoyer.

New England clearly has big plans for Jones. You don’t draft a quarterback 15th overall if you don’t think he is capable of being the future of the franchise.

But the New England Patriots need to take their time. If they screw this up, they could be at the bottom of the AFC for the foreseeable future.

Next. Patriots OTA no-shows could be significant. dark

So while it’s great to hear that Jones is doing well, now is not the time to overreact. Let’s see what he can do in a preseason game before even considering putting him under center in the 2021 regular season.

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