Mac Jones Lights Up Giants In Patriots' Joint Practice Session, Capitalizing On Cam Newton's Absence
BOSTON (CBS) -- When reports first surfaced that Cam Newton would be missing for three practices this week, the big question became whether Mac Jones would take advantage.
On Wednesday, with the Giants in town for a joint practice session, Jones answered that question with an undeniable yes.
The rookie out of Alabama was absolutely dominant against the Giants, completing 21 of his first 23 passes, including 14 in a row, according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe:
Jones stretched that run of consecutive completions to 18 before a pass was batted down at the line, per the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan.
Callahan also noted that Mac Jones looks to be worlds better than Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft:
CLNS Media's Evan Lazar tracked Mac Jones at 16-for-19 to start 11-on-11 work.
In what was a rather lengthy practice session, Jones punctuated the performance with an impressive touchdown pass to Jakobi Myers, too.
When the day ended, MassLive's Chris Mason tallied Jones as going 33-for-39 against the Giants, with zero interceptions. NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry had Jones at 21-for-24 in 11-on-11 reps and 8-for-8 on 7-on-7's.
It wasn't a perfect day from Jones ...
... but it was nevertheless a notably impressive day from the rookie.
Newton will return to the practice field on Thursday, for the second and final joint practice of the summer. After that, we'll (likely) see both quarterbacks on Sunday in the preseason finale against the Giants, and we won't get a good view on the quarterback situation until the season kicks off on Sept. 12.
If Jones ends up surpassing Newton on the depth chart -- and that remains a big if at this point -- we will likely look back to this particular day as the moment when the competition shifted significantly in the rookie's favor.
