Watching Mac Jones through the first three or so weeks of training camp, things look pretty good.
The No. 15 overall pick does not seem bothered by the pressure of playing for the Patriots or competing with Cam Newton as he has seemed to make progress every day on the field. With him under center, the ball comes out quickly and looks like it did with Tom Brady at quarterback.
But, how do the people inside the building feel?
According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, they like what they see.
“I just got a text from somebody within the Patriots organization who pointed out that Mac Jones is handling things ‘very well, very smart, very hard worker, steady progress,'” Darlington said on ESPN’s Get Up. “These are all the things behind the scenes that you want to feel about Mac Jones.”
He added: “Yes it matters what we personally see in practice and preseason games, but what’s happening behind the scenes in that building, the fact that he’s making that type of progress, to me, tells you that yes as Sam [Acho] pointed out, this is a competition.”
Darlington wouldn’t go as far as saying Jones will start Week 1, but it seems things could be trending that way, especially if Jones continues to improve each week.
“To me, Mac Jones has done enough already to insert him into that conversation,” Darlington said. “How far he takes it now is the question before Week 1.”
Jones continues to compete with Newton for the starting job and there’s been no true indication from Bill Belichick on who will start against Miami come the start of the regular season.
The Patriots will play the Eagles in preseason game No. 2 Thursday night.