Curran: Charlie Weis not at all surprised by Mac Jones' fast start

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Charlie Weis was waving the flag for Mac Jones well before the draft. He kept on waving it after the Patriots took Jones with the No. 15 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Now that Jones is lighting it up for the Patriots in his first NFL training camp, Weis can’t help but say, “Told ya.”

On Friday, I was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio with Weis and Bob Papa. Weis was Patriots offensive coordinator for their first three Super Bowl wins. Papa is a long-time NFL play-by-play man and was in Foxboro all week watching the Giants-Patriots joint practices.

When asked how I viewed Jones’ development, I admitted that he’s been way, way, way more proficient than I expected. Instead of a souped-up version of Jarrett Stidham, he looks about like a third-year version of Jimmy Garoppolo. At worst.

Patriots Talk Podcast: Mac Jones rests his case | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

To which Weis said, "Well, obviously you weren’t listening to me…"

Nope. Was not. I bought into the "product of the talent and the system" thinking when it came to Jones. How well would a narrow-shouldered, one-year starter who threw to wide-open wideouts at Alabama perform when the game sped up and there wasn’t a profound talent mismatch every week? I’ve been finding out.

Why was Jones so able to hit the ground running?

"I think the fact that he’s coming from Nick (Saban)'s program puts him in a different vein than all these other guys," Weis said, referring to previous Patriots quarterback draftees. "These Alabama guys are more ready to go. I think you have to factor that in.

"You can’t disregard the pro coaches that he’s getting at Alabama. Whether it was when (Brian) Daboll was there or (Steve) Sarkisian was there, Nick as the head coach. This guy is more ready to go mentally than all those other guys. He understands the pro game at a very, very high level."

Curran: Mac Jones rests his case to be Patriots' starting QB

Weis doesn’t bother to hide his allegiance to the Patriots and Belichick. Having helped lay the foundation here, he cares still how things go for his old co-workers. And he thinks Jones is their fastest path back to success.

"I’m kinda rooting for it to be Mac (as the starter)," said Weis. "I’m not rooting against Cam (Newton). I just thought that Mac was the perfect fit. If they wanted to go back to running the offense that I was used to seeing in New England, I thought that gave them the best fit."

So far, it’s impossible to argue with that.  

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