Mac Jones may not be the second coming of Tom Brady, but those who have watched the New England Patriots quarterback closely can't help but point out the striking similarities between the two signal-callers.
Jones' strong pocket presence and admirable work ethic have some, including NBC Sports' Peter King, reminiscing about Brady's early days. King appeared on Tom E. Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast and discussed how Jones reminds him of a young Brady.
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"Twenty years ago, Tom Brady was just barely becoming Tom Brady. So, for anybody who says Mac Jones has a ceiling, Mac Jones this, that or the other thing, I always laugh at that," King said. "Because when Mac Jones was in high school -- I read his old quarterback coach in high school said he was just surrounded by haters. People who recruited were haters, everybody was haters. He goes to Alabama and everybody thinks he's a nice little roster-filler guy. And meanwhile, this idiot goes back to his room on Saturday night, and instead of going out and having 16 beers, he's throwing balls into a net in his room in Tuscaloosa. ...
"(Former Patriots vice president of player personnel) Scott Pioli tells this story, that when Brady was a rookie in training camp, one night he goes by the indoor facility and sees some lights on at 9:30 at night. Pioli, being conscientious, saying geez I guess they forgot to turn the lights off, maybe he'll go over and turn the lights off in the bubble. Then he goes in there, and there's Tom Brady practicing dropbacks and throwing balls into a net from 35 yards. He goes 'Tommy, what the hell? It's 9:30.' He goes 'Scott, don't tell anybody.'
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"And so, when I read things about Mac Jones, I feel almost exactly the same way as I feel when I hear stories like that. It's ironic and all that, but the other thing is he just has it down mentally."
Also discussed in the episode: Patriots D rises up on Day 2 of camp. Three up, three down from first days of camp. Peter King's first impressions of the Patriots. And how much pressure is on Bill Belichick?
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.