Colin Cowherd Fires Off Mac Jones-Patriots Take ‘Nobody Agrees With’
Mac Jones has his fair share of detractors as he enters his third season with the New England Patriots.
Colin Cowherd is not one of them.
The FS1 host on Thursday threw his full support behind the third-year quarterback, declaring Jones is far better than many so-called experts think.
“I have one sports take and nobody agrees with it,” Cowherd said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” ” … I think Mac Jones is a ‘B’ quarterback that has been treated like a ‘D’ quarterback. I think he’s very capable. And why do I think that? Because I watched his rookie year with average personnel — personnel that drove (Tom) Brady crazy. He walked in and was like (10-7), good numbers — like, better than Matt Ryan career numbers.”
Jones, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, had a solid debut season with New England, flashing the upside he showed at Alabama despite falling off later in the year. It looked like New England had a worthy successor to Brady.
But Jones’ sophomore campaign was a slog. He missed three games, briefly was benched in favor of Bailey Zappe and overall regressed, casting some uncertainty over his future ahead of a potential make-or-break third season in Foxboro.
“There’s my take that nobody agrees with,” Cowherd said. “I think Mac Jones is pretty good. I think he’s absolutely as good as Kirk Cousins. Absolutely. No question. I think Kirk Cousins is a ‘B,’ (Mac Jones) is a ‘B’ to a ‘B+.’ I think he’s in that Derek Carr, B-B+ (range), I do. But he literally has no No. 1 receiver, no No. 1 tight end. His college receivers were far better than his current Patriots receivers.”
So, how much of last season’s setback can be attributed to New England’s questionable offensive coaching, which involved longtime defensive coach Matt Patricia calling the plays? We could find out soon enough, now that Bill O’Brien is back as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, even though Jones’ supporting cast still has holes with training camp on the horizon.
“So, that is my sports take that nobody agrees with,” Cowherd said while defending Jones. “Everybody thinks he’s just no good. And I think he’s good, but he’s being held back.”
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