The regular season is almost two weeks away and it still is unclear who the Patriots starting quarterback will be -- Cam Newton or Mac Jones?
Newton has done everything like the starter would, including after missing five days due to COVID protocols, but Bill Belichick has still acknowledged there's a competition.
Jones had his best day of the summer on Wednesday against the Giants with Newton out, but took a bit of a step back Thursday.
Following Thursday's practice, Jones was asked if he would be disappointed if he wasn't named the starter.
“That’s beyond my control. I can just control my effort every day and I’m trying," the rookie said. "I’m putting in a lot of work, and everyone else is, too. At the end of the day, there should be no drop-off here in the quarterback room . . . Someone like Josh [McDaniels] always talks about the standard we play to in New England, and it doesn’t matter if you’re first string, second string, third string . . . but when you go in, there’s a standard, and I felt like today I could have definitely done better with that, playing up to the standard.
"So, there was definitely good progress in a lot of reps. It was fun, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Jones and the Patriots will close out the preseason Sunday night against the Giants.
