At times this year, Mac Jones has come across as a bit uncomfortable with this media.
From generic answers full of cliches, to this week with Merloni & Fauria asking to move on from questions about the Colts game, the rookie hasn’t come across all that great sometimes.
Rodney Harrison believes that could stem from him being overwhelmed.
“I don’t think this is him trying to be a jerk, trying to be mean, I think this is him letting everybody know, ‘Hey, I’m a rookie quarterback. It’s a lot being a quarterback, playing for Coach Belichick with all this microscope and all this scrutiny and 18 games, all the practices and COVID. It’s a lot,’” he said Wednesday on Merloni & Fauria. “This is his way of telling people, ‘Look, I’m a little overwhelmed. I need to back up,’ and I think it’s smart to let people know that [he’s] a little overwhelmed. Basically, that is what he’s letting you know. Has he hit the rookie wall? Yeah, of course he’s hit the rookie wall just like 1,000 other rookies in the National Football League.
“I think this is his way, and if Stacey James or Coach Belichick need to get involved and just tell him to stick to the script, do the cliches, but at the end of the day we have to understand this is a rookie quarterback and he has a lot on him. He’s playing great. The Patriots are playing well and this is just one week out of the season he can learn from.”
Click below to listen to the full interview (overwhelmed part begins around 8:30 mark).
