After putting up one of the better rookie quarterback seasons in recent memory, the questions about Mac Jones now focus on his future potential.
Is he just a high-floor player who's already close to his ceiling? Or does he have other levels he can reach despite not having the physical upside of some of his peers?
Former Patriots executive Scott Pioli, who helped craft the beginnings of the team's dynasty in the early 2000s, suggests New England knows Jones has much more in the tank as a player and leader.
"I think Mac Jones and the Patriots coaching staff would be the first to tell you there are a lot of next steps that he has," Pioli said. "He had a very, very strong rookie year, but that doesn't mean anything in New England when you're a quarterback."
In other words, don't start calling him the next Tom Brady just yet.
We've already seen Jones working on his deep ball and testing the upper limits of his arm more often than he did last season.
But one of the most important things Pioli believes the second-year quarterback must accomplish isn't about physical maturation.
"To me, I think one of the next steps he needs to take is, who is his go-to guy going to be?" he said. "He's got these relationships [with his receivers]. … He went out and saw players. He spent time with them. What he needs to do is cultivate those relationships, deepen them so to speak, and find out who his most dependable teammates are going to be.
"Tom Brady always had a go-to guy. Those guys were generally versatile, smart, and dependable. Mac needs to find out who those guys are or who that singular guy is in order to make things go to a next level for him at the quarterback position."
Jones certainly has been taking his leadership to another level this season both on the practice field and on his own time, inviting just about every person who might catch a pass from him this season to throwing workouts during this pre-training camp period.
The too-soon-to-call-it clubhouse leader for the "Go-to Guy" award is probably Jakobi Meyers, whom Jones had an obvious rapport with in 2021 to the tune of a team-leading 126 targets. But Kendrick Bourne routinely made big plays and finished second to Meyers in receiving yards last season with 800, and veteran DeVante Parker figures to provide a steadying presence on the outside that wasn't there last year.
Though much of this Patriots season will depend on how much Jones can elevate the good-but-not-great talent around him, it can't be ignored how much the young quarterback must be able to count on his playmakers to make him look good as well.
