Rob Ninkovich has been leading the charge for Mac Jones to start Week 1 dating back to the spring and despite a strong summer from Cam Newton he's sticking to it.
Newton has led the quarterbacks in every rep this summer and started both preseason games, including a great performance Thursday night against the Eagles, but the former defensive end believes the rookie should be the starter come the start of the regular season.
“No, I am sticking with Mac Jones because he’s the future," Ninkovich said Friday on The Greg Hill Show. "And if you are the guy that is going to be here for the long haul and you are this impressive this early and the way the team is built — the roster is set up for a young quarterback. I am telling you. The running backs that we have, the offensive line. The running game is going to help setup the play-action pass. The two tight ends they just went out and paid a truck-load of money to, that need to get healthy.
"With those guys in place and a top-five defense, let’s take the time machine back to 2001. Let’s go, when we had a young quarterback, who nobody thought had any experience that was going to fun for us and guess what? That was history."
Jones has been impressive as well, including against the Eagles when he went 13-for-19 passing with 146 yards in the 35-0 win.
Bill Belichick has given no real indication on who the starter will be.
