Patriots coordinator praises competitiveness, leadership of Mac Jones
The New England Patriots shocked the NFL by dropping Cam Newton in favor of rookie quarterback Mac Jones heading into the regular season. After an impressive debut in a loss to the Miami Dolphins, there is even more excitement surrounding the future of the franchise. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has had two stints with the Patriots from 2001-2008 and since 2012, continues to compliment Mac Jones’ competitive nature and leadership skills.
“I think he’s a very competitive guy. He wants to win at everything that he’s doing. He wants to perform his best every single day on every single rep,” McDaniels said, via the Boston Herald. “I think that’s a great trait and a great quality to have, not only as a football player but as a human being. We’re fortunate that he feels that way.”
McDaniels also thinks Jones has all the leadership traits the Patriots look for at quarterback.
“I think relative to pushing himself and demanding the most from himself, I think that’s obviously the No. 1 way to lead,” said McDaniels. “You show everybody else that you’re going to hold yourself to a very high standard. And then you’re going to try to bring others along if you see the opportunity to do so.”
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Josh McDaniels has made clear his affinity for Mac Jones throughout the preseason. He contines to give reasons to like the young star. Shortly after Jones was named the Week One starter, McDaniels had this to say.
“When you look at the whole body of work since he’s gotten here…he’s been well-prepared each day to come in and do the things we ask our players to do…he’s improved,” McDaniels told the media. “He’s generally taken care of the football. He’s giving the other 10 guys on the field the opportunity to do their job effectively and produce positive plays.”
McDaniels is also fond of the way the rookie handles mistakes.
“He made mistakes in [last week’s practices],” McDaniels said. “That’s to be expected of any young player, really any player, but specifically any young player. And I thought we had a chance to make some progress off of those mistakes as well, so every rep he takes is valuable. Every young player is in the same boat. They don’t have a ton of experience in every situation, so the more you can put them in those positions and let them experience things, the better.”
Young players often get flustered, and it negatively impacts their play. With Jones, that does not appear to be the case.
“He’s a great listener, and he tries not to make the same mistake twice,” McDaniels added. “I’m not saying that he never does, but I think he’s really shown a strong aptitude at a young age to try to put those mistakes behind him and then move on and try to continue to improve as a quarterback.”