Former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones makes preseason debut for Jaguars
Former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones made his Jacksonville Jaguars’ preseason debut on Saturday night. Jones took the field and played the entire second half, mostly against backups vying for a job.
The former first-round pick completed 9-of-11 passes for 98 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He led two scoring drives, both of which resulted in field goals, and finished with a 103.8 quarterback rating.
Jones’s first possession began with a pair of runs before he hit tight end Josiah Deguara for a seven-yard pass. He would hit the tight end twice on the first drive for 14 yards.
On his second drive, Jones made three completions of 10-yards or more, followed by a 47-yard field goal from kicker Cam Little.
His best throw of the night came roughly midway through the fourth quarter when he tossed a 28-yard pass to Deguara. The former Alabama quarterback’s only shot at the end zone came on third down, when Jones was trying to hit Deguara on a 13-yard fade pass.
Jones strong start to the preseason came after playing behind Jaguars starter Trevor Lawrence (3-of-4, 42 yards, TD) backup C.J. Beathard (7-of-14, 126 yards, TD).
The Jaguars acquired Jones from the Patriots during the offseason for a sixth-round pick. The 25-year-old will battle with Beathard for the No. 2 spot on the team’s quarterback depth chart.
"Whatever my role is, I'm going to definitely do it to the best of my ability, and my goal is to continue to develop physically and mentally," Jones told Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union earlier in the week, "and hopefully someone can see that, whether it's here or somewhere else... my attention is 100% here, and when it changes if something happens, I'll be ready. So that's my mindset."
Jones’ head coach Doug Pederson gave him praise for his play on Saturday night against Kansas City.
“All three of ‘em played good. They played smart. I don’t think there was a turnover there with those guys. Trevor played smart. Obviously the throw to Etienne,” Pederson said following the game. “Then C.J. comes in and make some really nice down-the-field throws, in the face of adversity, too. Getting hit on the roughing the passer. For Mac to come in and do what he’s capable of doing... It’s a great room. It’s a great room.”
The Jaguars defeated the Chiefs 26-13 in the preseason opener.
