New England Patriots: 3 things Mac Jones showed us in pre-season Week 1
Second, New England Patriots Mac Jones showed the can play with the big guys
The second thing that Jones showed to anyone who actually saw the game, was that from the very first time he stepped onto the field, he looked like he belonged.
Now, what the heck does that nebulous statement mean? It means that Mac Jones looked entirely comfortable in his new surroundings, an NFL stadium filled with screaming fans.
That stadium was filled with thousands of fans who wanted to see him do well and gave him a standing ovation (one that was probably misinterpreted by the media) upon entering the game.
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He didn’t disappoint the fans at Gillette or the onlookers or at home. He was poised, crisp with his passes, intuitive, and on target. And, he was effective. He completed 68 percent of his passes.
And to make it even better, he should have had two additional completions. How so? First, a catch that was ruled incomplete to Jakobi Meyers should have been challenged by coach Bill Belichick.
Yet, for whatever reason, it wasn’t. The ball was caught and his own coach didn’t challenge it.
He took the completion away from his own team, Jones, and Meyers for whatever implausible reason he had. That was a very poor call, Coach.
Back to business, that one completion would have increased Jones’s completion percentage to 14 out of 19 and close to 100 yards passing. That’s a cool 74 percent completion percentage.
In addition, Jones dropped about a 40-yard dime on Kristian Wilkerson in the end zone, and he flubbed it.
That would have added another 40 yards or so to his passing total and a touchdown. OK, unlike the completion ruled incomplete, that’s pie-in-the-sky and just football.
Yet, if caught, it also would have increased his competition percentage astronomically and his yardage total by about 35 yards.
Add that one to the total along with the incompletion/completion, and how does a 79 percent completion rate, which is more in line with his last year at Alabama in 2020, sound?
Mac Jones showed unequivocally that he could play with the big boys, anyone who they put up against him. It’s not his fault if they were rookies, etc. for most of the time. It’s not going to matter.