An Independent Patriots Blog
After an entire week of not knowing if Mac would have surgery, go on IR, play, or, not play, we finally have a definitive answer on his status for Sunday, he’s out.
Per the team’s official injury report, Jones is officially ruled out of contention, along with Lawrence Guy and Yodny Cajuste.
The season is finally here, and Patriots football is just a day away. Tomorrow, the New England Patriots welcome the Miami Dolphins to Gillette Stadium, along with thousands of fans, for the first time since the 2019 season.
Here are the Patriots I’ll be keeping my eye on this weekend and why.
Not a surprise here, Mac Jones makes his professional debut as an NFL starting quarterback. Many teams across the league have seen multiple signal-callers over the last few years, but, for the Patriots, it’ll be the first time a rookie quarterback will start week 1 as the starter since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
Whatever the circumstance behind it, Mac won the starting job and gets his chance to lead this team against his former teammate in Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins. Jones will come up against some a good Miami secondary who should be more prepared than last season to deal with a more conventional pocket-passing style player.
I want to see Jones enjoy his first game and it would be awesome for him to get a win under his belt early, against a good, competent Miami outfit.
Oh boy, am I excited to see Judon gear up and get on the field tomorrow. In the small sample size of reps we saw in the preseason, Judon was full tilt and made light work of the opposition offensive fronts. Judon, a two-time Pro Bowler with Baltimore, is the FA signing of the season for me, I think that will show as much in the first half of the schedule.
Expect to see him mainly in the pass-rush attack along with Josh Uche, which could be a scary tandem this year, especially if Barmore can get going in the interior.
With Stephon Gilmore out for at least the first six games, J.C. Jackson will be at the top of the depth chart as starting cornerback. Jackson is coming off a monster nine-interception season in 2020 and needs to keep that juice flowing, starting tomorrow against Miami.
If the pass-rush can give Tua trouble, he has shown the tendency to throw balls into traffic, and with Jackson being the ball-hawk he is, expect him to be busy. Jackson could well convince the team to give him a big extension this year with his performances in the opening portion of the season.
With Sony Michel traded to the Rams earlier in the offseason, the time has come for Damien Harris. Harris got limited reps in the preseason as a starter, which led to good opportunities for both Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor to cement their place in the depth chart.
I feel good about the offensive line this year and I can’t wait to see Harris get his wheels turning, he could be in for a big year. Not to mention, if the running game gets going nicely, it should help the passing attack open up more, which could be a big boost for Mac and the receivers.
Imagine a couple of years ago someone telling you that UDFA Jakobi Meyers would be the top receiver for the Patriots, some journey huh? But it’s true! Meyers has had an extraordinary rise to the top of the depth chart following a good performance last year, that carried through to training camp.
Meyers will be Mac’s safety blanket of the group, which will give him great options over the middle out of the slot, I think he’ll lead the team for catches this year.
[Read more…] about PatsProp Preview – We’re on to Miami
Wow oh wow. Mac Jones has won the quarterback competition in New England as the Patriots have released Cam Newton.
I honestly did not see this coming, I’m shocked. The way a final couple of preseason games went indicated that Cam was the starter and would get the nod to begin the 2021 season, but how wrong was I?!
A couple of things to note here. Firstly, Mac has done enough to show Bill he can be capable of running the offense in the regular season. And second, Cam’s issue with having to isolate may have played a big role moving forward as he was unvaccinated.
Now, this isn’t about if it’s right or wrong to get the vaccine, but the team may have felt it would have put them in a detrimental position if Newton had to isolate with no prior notice before a game during the regular season.
Mac Jones will be the team’s starter in Week 1 against Miami. The first time a rookie has been named starter since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
As first reported by Field Yates, the Patriots’ first-round selection from this year has signed a four-year $15.6 million contract that also includes a fifth-year option.
Another headline today following a few quiet weeks since mini-camp in New England, with N’Keal Harry requesting a trade via his agent earlier a few hours ago.
Jones is gearing up for a showdown with Cam Newton in Training Camp later this summer, so a potential distraction now fulfilled ahead of a busy first year.
Jones’ contract, a formality if we’re being serious, but nevertheless, I’m glad to have it out the way and his focus can now shift to Training Camp. As Mike Reiss noted, just Christian Barmore and Ronnie Perkins remain unsigned from this year’s Draft class.
Curious about the cap? Miguel at @Patscap always has us covered.
The New England Patriots have selected a quarterback in the first round of an NFL Draft for the first time since they took Drew Bledsoe in 1993. Mac Jones, the former CFB National Champion with Alabama is heading to New England.
Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance went 1,2,3, then Justin Fields, who many thought could end up in New England was taken by the Bears after they gave up a haul of picks to move up to Pick 11.
In my breakdown of the expert mock drafts earlier this week, I said “Now, taking him (Jones) at 15, if the team loves him, I’m fine with, but I don’t want them to give up their future capital for Jones.” – This is exactly how things panned out, the Patriots were patient and managed to get their QB for the future.
I for one am pretty excited by this, now Jones wasn’t the top QB on my list, but the team has some belief in him, and that goes a long way with me, I just want to see how he progresses in camp now.
The Belichick-Saban connection continues as Schefter notes, that relationship will have played a huge part in this pick, remember, the Patriots had a chance to take Jordan Love last year whilst being in the same QB situation, but didn’t. They could have passed on Jones here, but they clearly like him enough to use their 15th pick.