It was the New England Patriots defense that dominated Thursday night's game vs. the Atlanta Falcons, but Mac Jones continued to impress despite his modest numbers.
Jones completed 22 of his 26 passes for 207 yards, a touchdown, and one interception in the 25-0 win. Those stats don't tell the full story as the rookie quarterback made several impressive throws that make it hard to believe it was only his 11th professional game.
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Among the many NFL analysts who like what they've seen from Jones is ESPN's Ryan Clark. The former Pittsburgh Steelers safety raved about the Patriots signal-caller Friday morning on Get Up!
“You have a quarterback who's dang near not allowing the football to hit the ground,” Clark said. “It looks like when you’re playing flag football and the coach’s son is the quarterback. Mac Jones is playing at an extremely high level and he’s doing everything that you need to do to win football games.”
Clark then went as far as to say Jones is doing things no rookie QB has done before in the NFL.
“Mac Jones has some stuff in him, some intangibles, that I think are maybe the greatest we’ve ever seen from a quarterback,” Clark said. “Now, it doesn’t mean he has the strongest arm. It doesn’t mean that he’s the fastest. But from the neck up, I’m not sure if we’ve ever seen a rookie that is better. And it’s showing every day that he takes snaps on the field.”
Now that's some serious praise.
Clark added he believes the Patriots' defense is "Super Bowl-caliber," which is hard to argue against given what we've witnessed the last couple of weeks. New England has allowed only 13 total points over its last three games.
New England Patriots
Jones and the Patriots (7-4) will look to stay hot when they host the AFC-leading Tennessee Titans (8-2) next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.