New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has been branded "just a guy" in a brutal dig at the youngster.
Jones has struggled this season, and is now dealing with rumours his place could be taken by NFL legend Tom Brady next season. Brady is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, and has been tipped to return to Gillette Stadium and take Jones' place in the line-up.
The Patriots made Jones their starting quarterback shortly after drafting him in 2021, usurping Cam Newton in the roster chart. But now, he faces an uncertain future after a string of disappointing performances. Jones, who was an All-Star in his rookie season last year, missed a number of games earlier in the season due to injury, and it didn't seem the Patriots missed him too much, with Bailey Zappe taking his place in the team.
And former NFL player Keyshawn Johnson thinks the Patriots have to come to terms with the fact Jones simply isn't the player they hoped he would be last year. Speaking to ESPN, he explained how Jones has been exposed at times this season and accused him of hiding behind poor play-calling from his coaches.
"The quarterback isn't that good, man," he said. "The quarterback is okay. They packaged him up last year and sold him to you, now people want to say 'oh that's a Pro Bowl quarterback'. Come on man, let's be honest with each other. You can go to the Pro Bowl as a 39th alternate in your position.
"It wasn't like Mac Jones was All-Pro or something. He wasn't the third guy on the list behind Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
"Good for him, I take my hat off to that, but I'm not going to allow people to sell me on him being some fantastic rookie QB who broke all these records.
"The dude didn't even push the ball down the field, really. A lot of his passes were at the line of scrimmage or slightly above the line of scrimmage last year. Yes he had a high completion rate and he did what they asked him to do. That's what he's doing this year, he's doing basically the same thing as he did last year, except they're not getting the necessary points they were getting last year.
"That's the reality of it, I know that's hard for people to understand, or hear, or want to swallow, but Mac Jones is just a guy, man. That's just the reality of it. Let's not get so caught up in him at the quarterback position and his growth and demean the offensive staff and the play calling to the degree of Josh McDaniels had this explosive offence and now it's gone."
