Mac Jones and the rest of the Patriots’ rookies have new jersey numbers
Jones will wear the same number once worn by Jimmy Garoppolo.
Since first joining a Patriots practice in May, rookie Mac Jones has worn a number on his jersey (50) that’s more familiar for a linebacker than a quarterback.
But as team prepares for its first 2021 preseason game, New England’s 2021 first-round pick finally has a “real” number.
The Patriots announced the team’s roster hours before kickoff against the Washington Football Team on Thursday evening, with rookies now attached to numbers more customary to their respective positions.
Jones will wear No. 10, a number once worn by Jimmy Garoppolo. Other notable numbers include wide receiver Tre Nixon — who, as a seventh-round pick, was longtime director of football research Ernie Adams’s final draft contribution — getting to wear No. 87 (formerly worn by tight end Rob Gronkowski).
Here are the rookie numbers, according to the roster:
- QB Mac Jones: No. 10
- DT Christian Barmore: No. 70
- LB Ronnie Perkins: No. 51
- RB Rhamondre Stevenson: No. 38
- LB Cameron McGrone: No. 45
- DB Joshuah Bledsoe: No. 34
- OL William Sherman: No. 68
- WR Tre Nixon: No. 87
- K Quinn Nordin: No. 3
Belichick’s method of having rookie players wear unconventional numbers during training camp dates back years. Former first-round pick Sony Michel (who now wears No. 26) donned No. 51 prior to the start of preseason games in 2018.
For several years, Belichick even had players wear jerseys with no numbers on them in spring practices, believing that it would force more communication (a tactic borrowed from former Steelers coach Chuck Noll), but the NFL outlawed the practice in 2016.
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