A former Alabama quarterback felt vindicated after a marquee victory on Sunday against a divisional opponent.
People see Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills as one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League. Mac Jones of the New England Patriots dealt with ridicule in 2022, and it’s continued. Some feel Jones should be benched and the Patriots made a mistake taking him at No. 15 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. The former three-star recruit showed he is not the problem in New England, leading the team to a 29-25 comeback victory. Jones was incredibly efficient, completing 25 of 30 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. He took the Patriots on a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter with 1:58 left on the clock. New England pushed the ball 75 yards downfield in eight plays, finishing on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Jones to tight end Mike Gesicki.
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Jones guided New England to its second win of the season, and he may have ended all the negative talk about him.
Aaron Rodgers, a future NFL Hall of Famer, likes what he sees in Jones. He shouted Jones out on the Pat McAfee Show.
Aaron Rodgers with a shoutout to #Patriots QB Mac Jones on today’s @PatMcAfeeShow:
“The narrative can change so quickly in this league…. Look at what’s going on in New England: ‘Bill’s gonna be out and Mac is the problem’ and then Mac goes out and balls out, I think he was 25… pic.twitter.com/1nQ5P0fow0
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) October 24, 2023
“The narrative can change so quickly in this league,” Rodgers said.
“Look at what’s going on in New England: ‘Bill’s gonna be out and Mac is the problem’ and then Mac goes out and balls out, I think he was 25 of 31, played incredible, led them on a last-second drive and now it’s like, ‘Mac was never the problem!’, you know. You know you have to be able to laugh at some of this shit because it’s so ridiculous. The overreactions and the blanket statements are crazy.”
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He opened the season with a stellar performance against Philadelphia, but Sunday’s outing against the Bills was an exceptional one from Jones. Hopefully, he can continue stacking together quality performances.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
