Mac Jones can relate to the quarterback he's sharing the field with this week.
The New England Patriots are in Green Bay for a pair of joint practices with the Packers, whose fourth-year quarterback, Jordan Love, is tasked with keeping a historic franchise competitive following the departure of a future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers.
Jones knows a thing or two about Love's situation: While he technically took the Patriots' starting job from Cam Newton, he was drafted in 2021 to ostensibly take the torch from Tom Brady as New England's next franchise quarterback.
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Jones shared a bit of advice for Love and his own perspective on replacing Brady after Wednesday's joint practice.
"Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback to ever play in the NFL," Jones said. "So, to follow up on him, it’s trying to chase the standard that he set every day.
"Honestly, we’re definitely two different players. That’s the only advice I’d have: Just continue to grow and be yourself. That’s all you can do is put your best foot forward and compete. But yeah, it’s definitely big shoes to fill."
While that's not a groundbreaking answer, it's probably the most open Jones has ever been about following in Brady's footsteps. And as Jones enters Year 3, it's worth asking the question: How is Mac doing as Brady's successor?
The answer, of course is complicated. Jones finished second in NFL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021 while leading the Patriots to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth. It looked like Bill Belichick may have found his QB of the future. Then came Belichick's ill-fated 2022 decision to give offensive play-calling duties to Matt Patricia, which resulted in a disastrous second season for Jones, who ranked 28th out of 31 qualified quarterbacks in Total QBR as New England sputtered to an 8-9 record.
That's why the stakes are so high for 2023: If Jones can thrive under veteran offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, he could re-establish himself as Brady's heir apparent. If he continues to struggle, it could be the beginning of the end of his Patriots tenure with his rookie contract set to expire after the 2024 season.
This isn't all on Jones, either. As our Tom E. Curran pointed out Wednesday on NBC Sports Boston's Arbella Early Edition, it's Belichick's responsibility to move on from the Brady Era and surround Jones with more talent than he has to this point.
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"Mac Jones is on a rookie contract," Curran said, as seen in the video below. "He's making ($2 million) in base salary this year and they have $16 million in cap space, yet they pushed away from the table on DeAndre Hopkins. They really didn't go bananas anywhere in the draft for offensive players. Their tight end room is very, very shallow with guys on one-year deals.
"They just haven't done enough, and (they're still) in that thinking that the quarterback is going to fix things, the scheme is going to fix things, or 'We're going to outsmart people with our defense.' And that's where I think the Patriots are themselves stuck in a Brady shadow."
For more on how Jones and the Patriots have fared post-Brady, check out the full Arbella Early Edition video below.