Mac Jones Apparently Copied Tom Brady While Developing Many Aspects Of His Game
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Mac Jones will not be the next Tom Brady because nobody can or ever will be the next Tom Brady. At least not in this lifetime. That's how it works with actual GOATs. There can only be one.
Still, there are certain stylistic traits and skills that can be emulated by a quarterback who wants to have success within New England's system. And apparently, Mac Jones is the right choice to give that a whirl.
In an extensive feature about the growth and development of Jones' game over the past several years, Boston Herald Patriots reporter Andrew Callahan shared one fascinating nugget that is sure to catch some attention around these parts:
"In college, Jones modeled his footwork after Brady's. He stole elements of Brady's game preparation. He studied every piece of Brady's passing mechanics, down to how he contorts his off-hand."
In fairness, a lot of young quarterbacks -- a lot of smart young quarterbacks, anyway -- likely looked at Brady as someone worth emulating. He's been around for more than two decades, he's won like nobody else ever has (or ever will), and his quarterbacking style has translated through several different eras of passers.
Somebody like Jones, who was 3 years old when Brady hoisted his first Lombardi, has literally never known football to exist without Brady. So it's only natural for him to have gleaned a thing or two from watching him.
As such, the story took steps to ensure that nobody would or should ever expect Jones to be the next Brady. It merely sought to spotlight some undeniable similarities in their games -- something that might help explain why the Patriots wanted Jones and why Jones wanted the Patriots.
"They're wired very much the same," former Patriots scout Jim Nagy (who pushed for the team to draft Julian Edelman way back when, and who now runs the Senior Bowl) told Callahan. "Calling Mac smart does not do him justice. He's on a totally different level mentally."
Nagy also told Callahan: "Their strengths are similar, especially in terms of pocket feel and in-pocket movement, accuracy and field vision."
Of course, Jones' success level in the NFL will depend entirely on how well he plays, how quickly and deeply he learns, and how swiftly he adapts his game to the faster speed and countless challenges of the NFL. None of that can be predicted, and the fact that he mimicked some of Brady's pocket work won't really help in developing at the NFL level.
But from a Patriots perspective, it's likely comforting to know that at the very least, Jones sought to learn from the best.