- Mar 19, 2006
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By Jay Hart
With just one game remaining in the NFL?s preseason schedule ? can I get an amen? ? the quarterback pictures for the teams that hadn?t yet named a starter are quickly taking shape.
Trevor Lawrence has been named the stater in Jacksonville, which comes as no surprise; Teddy Bridgewater has been tapped as the Broncos? QB1 over Drew Lock; and Matt Nagy is sticking with the plan to go with Andy Dalton in Chicago ? at least for Week 1.
Still to make a public declaration on its starters are the New Orleans Saints ? though Jameis Winston appears to have the inside track ? and the New England Patriots ... where things have gotten really interesting.
With Cam Newton out because of a scratch-your-head COVID protocol violation, Mac Jones is quickly making the most of his time alone in the spotlight. According to reports, Jones lit up the New York Giants in a practice Wednesday, completing 35 of 40 passes, including 18 straight at one point.
?Yes, it was one practice,? our Dan Wetzel writes. ?But given the chance to practice in the starter?s slot, Jones looked like a starter. He certainly wasn't shrinking in the moment.?
Having spent a first-round pick on him, something the Patriots hadn?t used on any quarterback in the Belichick era, Jones is clearly the future in New England ? or at least they hope he will be. But Bill Belichick isn?t going to just hand him the keys to the car. He?s still here to win, not to play for the future.
That?s the difference between the Patriots and Bears situations. Whereas Nagy and GM Ryan Pace are trying to figure out how to save their jobs, Belichick is worrying about how to get the Patriots to Los Angeles in February.
So while it?s no surprise that Trevor Lawrence will start in Jacksonville, or that Zach Wilson will be under center for the Jets, or that it?s only a matter of when before Justin Fields takes the reins in Chicago, Mac Jones earning the Week 1 starting job in New England would be the most impressive feat of them all.
With just one game remaining in the NFL?s preseason schedule ? can I get an amen? ? the quarterback pictures for the teams that hadn?t yet named a starter are quickly taking shape.
Trevor Lawrence has been named the stater in Jacksonville, which comes as no surprise; Teddy Bridgewater has been tapped as the Broncos? QB1 over Drew Lock; and Matt Nagy is sticking with the plan to go with Andy Dalton in Chicago ? at least for Week 1.
Still to make a public declaration on its starters are the New Orleans Saints ? though Jameis Winston appears to have the inside track ? and the New England Patriots ... where things have gotten really interesting.
With Cam Newton out because of a scratch-your-head COVID protocol violation, Mac Jones is quickly making the most of his time alone in the spotlight. According to reports, Jones lit up the New York Giants in a practice Wednesday, completing 35 of 40 passes, including 18 straight at one point.
?Yes, it was one practice,? our Dan Wetzel writes. ?But given the chance to practice in the starter?s slot, Jones looked like a starter. He certainly wasn't shrinking in the moment.?
Having spent a first-round pick on him, something the Patriots hadn?t used on any quarterback in the Belichick era, Jones is clearly the future in New England ? or at least they hope he will be. But Bill Belichick isn?t going to just hand him the keys to the car. He?s still here to win, not to play for the future.
That?s the difference between the Patriots and Bears situations. Whereas Nagy and GM Ryan Pace are trying to figure out how to save their jobs, Belichick is worrying about how to get the Patriots to Los Angeles in February.
So while it?s no surprise that Trevor Lawrence will start in Jacksonville, or that Zach Wilson will be under center for the Jets, or that it?s only a matter of when before Justin Fields takes the reins in Chicago, Mac Jones earning the Week 1 starting job in New England would be the most impressive feat of them all.
