Mac Jones Remarks on Role as Alabama Starting Quarterback
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With Alabama football's depth chart being released early on Monday, any remaining questions about who would be the day-one starter at quarterback for the Crimson Tide were all put to rest.
The message was clear and simple: in Mac we trust.
After taking over for former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa last season due to Tagovailoa suffering a season-ending hip injury, the now-redshirt-junior quarterback Mac Jones started four games and quickly became ingrained in the Crimson Tide offense.
In a virtual press conference with the media on Tuesday, Jones extended his gratitude at being named starter.
“I’m really thankful to be named that position and I think I’ve earned the trust of my teammates and coaches,” Jones said. “But like I said we just need to keep working as a team and focus on this upcoming game because you gotta go in there and execute and do your job and that’s for everybody, not just the starting quarterback. Anybody has to be ready to play and we all have to be ready to go for Saturday.”
While the quarterback conversation this offseason didn't quite reach the same level as it did back in 2018 when both Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts were up for the position, Jones did see some competition from teammate and five-star quarterback Bryce Young.
When it comes to himself and Young, Jones looks to model their dynamic after how his former teammates executed it during their time at Alabama.
“Jalen and Tua did it right,” Jones said. “Whoever was in the game at the time tried to do their job to the best of their ability. That’s all you can do really. You can’t focus on everything else — the what-ifs, the this and thats — just go out there. For me if I’m in the game, get the ball to the right guy, let all the guys make plays, celebrate when we score and have fun. So that’s all I can do and everything else will just take care of itself.”
Also available to the media on Tuesday was redshirt-junior offensive lineman LaBryan Ray, who expressed his confidence in Jones and his leadership on the team.
“Mac Jones is a great leader,” Ray said. “Of course he’s the leader on the offense but he’s one of the leaders of the team. He’s one of them guys that comes in every day in and out and works his tail off so I think a lot of people feed off his energy every day.”
The Crimson Tide enter Saturday's season opener against Missouri as the No. 2 team in the nation. Coming off of what many Alabama fans consider to be a disappointing 2019 season, Jones aims to right the ship and sail the Crimson Tide back on course to the championship standard that fans expect to see from their favorite team.
Before the team can start thinking about championships, though, the Missouri Tigers stand in the way. The Tigers were one of two teams added to Alabama's schedule back when the SEC announced a 10-game, conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers come off of a disappointing end to its 2019 season where they lost five of their last six games.
Defensively, the team does not look to pose much of a threat to Jones and the high-powered Crimson Tide offense. However, you couldn't convince Jones of that.
“They’re a really good defense,” Jones said. “Ryan Walters their defensive coordinator does a great job schematically. On the back end with their cornerbacks, No. 14 and No. 8, they look pretty good. Obviously they might have some guys out but those guys in the back end look good. No. 9, Tyree Gillespie, their safety, No. 1 this year, he switched numbers — [Joshuah Bledsoe — he looks good in the back end. And then 32 is kinda like their workhorse of the defense, Nick Bolton, looks really good. They have another good linebacker — he switched to No. 11 this year — he looks good. Their defensive line is really old — I think it’s all seniors up there — 78, Kobie [Whiteside] their nose guard gets off the ball really well. 39 Chris Turner is an edge rusher. So they got some good guys up there. They got Tre Williams — No. 0 — is a defensive end who plays well so it’s really an old defense that focuses on effort and they make a lot of effort plays so watching them on tape they’ve been really impressive and we’ve got to be ready to go.”
Jones has clearly been doing his homework in preparation for Missouri. With him at the helm and with the talent surrounding him on the Alabama offense, it will be interesting to see what this team can do in such a unique season.
