Mac Jones 'Honored To Join An Elite Pack' In Patriots
Roughly 20 minutes after being selected by the New England Patriots with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, quarterback Mac Jones took to Twitter to express his gratitude for being selected by an "elite pack" like the Patriots. He also took the chance to push his new Panini rookie card.
During his first ever video conference as a member of the six-time Super Bowl champions, Jones' first quote was a reaction to being selected by the Patriots.
"From this point forward, now that I'm on a team, I'm really just looking forward to learning from [Josh McDaniels], from the other quarterbacks, and just coming in and do what I did at Alabama, just work hard and go from there," Jones said.
Some players are fortunate enough to have played for one incredible organization in their football career. However, for Jones, who played for Alabama and now the Patriots, gets to play for two of the winningest football teams in the history of sports.
But in the most Belichickean way possible, Jones said he's not looking to reminisce on his time in college at the moment.
"Being at Alabama definitely helped, but that's honestly in the past a little bit, I kind of just have to move forward from what I did there and start a new life with the Patriots," he said. "So whatever I did in the past kind of doesn't really matter, I just gotta come in and work hard and hopefully good things will happen. But the past is the past and the future is the future, and I'm just focused on what we are focused on right now."
Jones, despite there being plenty of chatter of him landing elsewhere, specifically in San Francisco, is glad he ended up in New England.
"At the end of the day, you kind of want to get the right fit," he said. "I feel like, secretly, I really wanted to go to the Patriots all along. So I'm actually really happy it happened."
However, don't expect him to coin himself as the starter. In fact, Jones did the exact opposite during his introductory video conference.
"It's his show," Jones said of veteran quarterback Cam Newton. "I'm just there to support him."
When asked directly if he expects to compete for a starting job in New England as a rookie, Jones took a team-first approach.
"I've never played in the NFL or anything, I don't know what it's like, so I'm just going to go in there and work really hard like I always have and I always will," said Jones. "Like I said, Cam [Newton] earned the respect of the team already, and my job is to support him and Jarrett [Stidham] and help them become better players if I can."
