There are few people who had an intimate look at quarterback Mac Jones’ ascent within the New England Patriots organization. And Cam Newton is one of those people. Though Newton has a complicated set of feelings about the Patriots, his thoughts on Jones were straightforward.
“I was with Mac Jones. Mac Jones is going to be a great quarterback,” Newton said during an appearance on the Pivot Podcast in an episode that published this week. “I would put Mac Jones at that 20-ish threshold.”
Newton got onto the topic of Jones while discussing whether Newton was a better quarterback than a number of the other starters. But Newton made it clear that Jones is deserving of his spot as starter in New England.
“(Mac Jones) is not the guy that I’m talking about,” Newton said.
Cam Newton: "Mac Jones is going to be a great quarterback."
Newton got to chatting about Jones because he thinks he's still better than the bottom-caliber QBs in the league. But you get the sense that Newton feels Mac Jones beat him out fair and square. pic.twitter.com/d7hVU5u2cQ
— Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis) June 7, 2022
Newton also brushed aside the idea that he was better suited to start than Tua Tagovailoa. Newton felt he was comparable to starters like Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff — though Newton wouldn’t name any other names.
Jones is clearly an ascending player at the position. His performance in Patriots minicamp has been impressive, more so than last year when Jones was a rookie and was competing against Newton. It will be fascinating to see how much better Jones can get. He was pegged as a low-ceiling prospect in the draft, given his physical limitations as a runner and average-velocity thrower. His processing power, however, seems to be gaining significant speed in Year 2. That much was clear at minicamp.
