By all accounts, Mac Jones enjoyed an excellent day of practice against the Giants Wednesday. But one of Bill Belichick’s former assistants and confidants says the Patriots may not be taking much stock into his performance.
Eric Mangini, who coached under Belichick for five seasons before blowing the lid off Spygate, said Thursday on FS1 that Jones’ showing against the Giants may not be as impressive as people think.
“The Giants defense looks a lot like the New England defense, so there’s a little bit more familiarity,” he said, via The Greg Hill Show. “Maybe that’s why it looked better than it typically has, because he’s been practicing against it throughout training camp.”
With Joe Judge at the helm, the Giants run a similar defensive scheme to the Patriots. But Mangini’s comments ignore Jones’ impressive preseason performance. The No. 15 overall pick has completed 26 of 38 passes for 233 yards in two contests.
Granted, Newton has also completed 12 of 16 throws for 152 yards and a touchdown, including a stellar 8-for-9 outing against the Eagles last week.
But Newton followed up his strong showing with a Covid mishap, missing three days of practice after an apparent “misunderstanding” over testing procedures -- confirming he's unvaccinated.
While Mangini recognized that Newton didn’t help himself this week, he doesn’t think his brief absence will ultimately impact the QB competition.
“Did Cam lose an opportunity to continue to show that he should be the starter by making the choice he did? Yeah,” Mangini said. “But is there any lock this rookie quarterback is going to start because he had a good day against a team that he has probably more familiarity with than we’re giving him credit? No.”
The Patriots wrap up their preseason slate against the Giants Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Belichick hasn’t indicated who will start under center.
