‘The sky is the limit’: Why a QB guru believes Mac Jones improved this offseason
"Here is a young man who is just at the beginning of his skill acquisition window."
Mac Jones’s pros and cons were quite clear when he entered the NFL and was drafted by the Patriots in 2021.
The Alabama product was viewed as a good decision maker who was accurate with his passes, but lacked impressive physical traits that led talent evaluators to question just how high his ceiling might be.
After an impressive 2021 season that saw Jones lead all rookies in the major passing stats, the Patriots’ quarterback hit up someone who coached a former Patriots quarterback. Throwing coach Tom House shared with NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry on the “Next Pats Podcast” that he had the same initial impression of Jones when he began to work with him this offseason. However, he found out that the mental aspect of Jones’ plays is positively affecting his physical traits as he grows as a quarterback.
“I think that Patriots fans realize, they got a quarterback that, between the ears, he’s way more experienced than it actually shows age-wise,” House told Perry. “If anything he was a little short on some physical things, mechanics were OK but nothing special.
“And what we found out with his hard work he’s actually matching up his physical and mental-emotional. That combination is going to make for a fun time with the fans of the Patriots this whole season.”
House, a former MLB pitcher turned quarterback guru that has coached the likes of Tom Brady, told Perry that he worked to improve not just Jones’s throwing efficiency, but also his mechanics and footwork. He saw Jones improve in those areas while working with him over the offseason, leading House to have an optimistic future outlook on the quarterback.
“The sky is the limit for this young man,” House said. “When an athlete comes to us for throwing mechanics, he’s also going to get functional strength training. He’s also going to get mental-emotional tricks. He’s also going to look at sleeping and nutrition through recovery.
“When you talk about the wonders of trainability, here is a young man who is just at the beginning of his skill acquisition window, which is age 19, 20 until age 34, 35.”
Not only does House see Jones continuing to improve for another decade because of his age (he turned 24 on Sept. 5), he also thinks Jones has the dedication needed in order to improve.
“Nobody has a better work ethic than this young man,” House said. “In fact, we have to talk about sometimes less is more. He’s a young man if you’re telling me he needs to do a 100 reps of something, he’ll give you 200 reps. We’re always trying to make sure in his mind that it’s nice to work hard but you don’t want to overwork. So, we’re balancing all those things of. Net result is that he is a better quarterback than he was a year ago and he should get better every year until 35, 36.”
“It could be kind of special this season,” House added.
Jones showed some arm strength throughout training camp practices, with one of his most notable passes being a 40-plus yard deep ball to DeVante Parker. He also made an impressive deep throw to Nelson Agholor along the sideline for a 45-yard gain in the second preseason game against the Panthers.
Jones’s offseason work will get tested officially for the first time on Sunday, when the Patriots open up the 2022 regular season against the Dolphins.
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