Mac Jones Earns Rare Praise From Patriots Legend Drew Bledsoe
If Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots really asked for another looked at Mac Jones' resume, he has a perfect reference for them to call.
Drew Bledsoe, a quarterback who dropped back in Jones' franchise cleats before him, offered a ringing endorsement of the current Foxboro flinger on the "Off the Pike" podcast presented by The Ringer. Jones' rollercoaster New England career has taken a few twists and turns this offseason thanks to lingering trade rumors but Bledsoe believes he's capable of following in his footsteps.
“I think he can be a franchise quarterback. But they’ve got to make sure that they have the right offense and the right pieces around him in order for that to work," Bledsoe told host Brian Barrett. "He’s very well-respected in the locker room and the organization. He works his butt off.”
Bledsoe perhaps indirectly warned fans not to rely on Jones for fantasy football purposes, though he feels the idea of respect and the proper personnel can help him push forward in his career. In terms of the latter category, New England has spent most of the offseason repainting its offensive picture with a new offensive coordinator (Bill O'Brien), a new top receiving option (JuJu Smith-Schuster), a new outside blocking option (Riley Reiff), and a new tight end (Mike Gesicki).
“He’s not going to overpower anybody, he’s not Pat Mahomes, but within the framework of an offense he can be very, very efficient," Bledsoe continued. "He’s never going to be Lamar Jackson and just go take over a game with his legs, or with his arm strength, but within the confines of the position of playing quarterback, he can be very, very good at that as long as they put the right pieces and the right plan around him.”
Upon his draft day arrival in 2021, Jones was the first quarterback the Patriots chose in the premier round since Bledsoe went first overall in 1993. Though modern Patriots fans likely remember Bledsoe for his relatively unceremonious exit from Foxboro (when a September 2001 injury gave way to two decades of Tom Brady), he fulfilled the massive expectations brought about by hearing his name called first at the draft.
It pales in comparison to his successor but it'd be hard to be too annoyed with Jones if his career panned out like Bledsoe's.
The latter set several New England passing records since broken by Brady and pushed the team to the Super Bowl after the 1996-97 campaign. Before he departed for Buffalo, Bledsoe earned a Super Bowl ring as Brady's backup in 2001-02, notably handling most of the AFC title game win over Pittsburgh when the arguable greatest of all time was injured. For his nine years in New England, Bledsoe earned induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2011.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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