Mac Jones competed with Cam Newton for the Patriots’ starting quarterback job and came out on top when the Patriots released Newton last week.
Jones said on WEEI Tuesday that he “never felt like we were butting heads” during that competition and that he plans to stay in touch with a player he called a “good mentor” to him. After spending the offseason and summer hearing Patriots head coach Bill Belichick refer to Newton as the team’s starter, Jones already knows that the label can be a fleeting one when the production doesn’t back it up.
“Doesn’t mean much. The label is the label but you gotta go out there and produce. That’s what it comes down to,” Jones said, via Phil Perry of NBCSportsBoston.com.
As a first-round pick with Brian Hoyer and Garrett Gilbert behind him in New England, Jones would have to be a gargantuan flop in order to see that label change at any point in the near future. The Patriots don’t believe that will happen and Jones’ first chance to prove them right comes against the Dolphins on Sunday.