As the newly-minted starting quarterback and future of the franchise in New England, no one wants to see rookie Mac Jones get banged around as much as he was by an aggressive Dolphins defense in his NFL debut.
Though Jones was sacked just once, he was hit nine times on his 39 attempts.
A number of those saw Jones step into the oncoming rush to deftly deliver one of his 29 completions.
It’s the kind of stuff clichéd TV color commentators love to rave about.
But it’s also apparently something that earns the respect of teammates. At least it did for Jones.
“He did a great job. I was really proud of him, how he handled it. He had a lot of poise. And obviously delivered the ball really well,” tight end Hunter Henry said. “Sat in there in the pocket even when the pocket was coming down and made some bigtime throws that sometimes a lot of other guys aren’t going to make. Just standing in the pocket and taking hits and everything like that. It shows a lot to us, as guys, a guy that’s going to stand in there no matter what and deliver the ball it was big to see. So he’s only going to get better and continue to get better with the more game reps and practices reps that we take.”
For Jones’ linemen, while it certainly impressed them to see the kind of toughness and team-first focus their young quarterback showed it’s not exactly the way they want to learn about their rookie starter’s makeup.
“First of all, you don’t want him to get hit,” left guard Mike Onwenu emphasized. “Obviously he’s going to do what he can do to make the play go. I mean that’s a good feeling, getting behind him as a leader and as our quarterback. That’s a good feeling.”
A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Jones was hard on himself following the 17-16 opening day loss. A lot was also made about his refusal to accept the ball from his first-career touchdown throw. It’s becoming clear that Jones is focused on doing his job and doing what is necessary to put the Patriots in position to win. Serious and selfless are two adjectives for Jones that just keep getting thrown around.
“He’s done a tremendous job. Being a young guy, being a rookie and being the starter the first game, live game that he’s played, he’s handled it tremendously. Nothing but good things to say about him,” Henry explained. “He’s going to continue to get better. He’s super selfless. Standing in the pocket, like I said earlier, and taking those shots and throwing the ball that shows a lot to the linemen, us, receivers. That’s big time. He’s going to continue to have to do that. We’re going to have to protect him better.
We are going to have to do different things for him. But he’s a selfless player and I’m excited to continue to work with him.”
