Cam Newton Admires Mac Jones' Preparation: 'We're Going To Be Here For Each Other'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Cam Newton has some Wikipediaing to do.
The Patriots' starting quarterback sarcastically wagged his finger at the assembled media late Thursday night for not knowing that the "Mac" in Mac Jones is short for McClennan. The media may have been caught off guard, because the Mac is actually short for McCorkle.
Regardless, the veteran QB and former No. 1 overall pick has certainly gotten to know the new first-round rookie QB out of Alabama throughout the summer. And despite what seems to be a real competition for the starting job, Newton had nothing but praise to offer for Jones after the two made their 2021 preseason debuts for the Patriots.
"For him, man, for him to come out there, I know he came to me and talked to me and we talked it out about just his expectation," Newton said of Jones. "Every young quarterback goes through it -- the excitement, the anticipation. He wants to be so perfect, and I see his preparation is always pristine. That's what I admire about him, being at such a young age, he knows how to prepare. And knows when Josh [McDaniels] asks quick questions or when a person asks quick questions, he knows how to kind of have answers for it."
And while the two quarterbacks have already been held in comparison to each other for the past month, and while they'll continue to be compared throughout the preseason and into the regular season, Newton indicated that the two quarterbacks will be supporting each other while technically competing with each other.
"Everybody is different. Everybody learns different. But for him and today's performance, he's just going to keep getting better, and we're going to be here for each other along this whole process, and that's what we're here for," Newton said.
Personality-wise, Newton and Jones aren't a precise match. But Newton said he does his best to get Jones to open up behind the scenes.
"Mac is -- like I say, he's relatively quiet sometimes, and I try to crack the DaVinci Code of the seriousness," Newton said. "He's got a lot of -- I'm not going to say it, but yeah, he's serious sometimes for no reason."
Perhaps Jones is simply slow to respond to "McClennan," when his middle name is actually McCorkle. But that can just be one more item to talk about as the 32-year-old Newton and 22-year-old Jones work toward the regular season.
