Patriots: NFL analyst thinks Mac Jones answered this burning question

The New England Patriots still don’t know who’ll be under center for Week 1 of the regular season, which is quietly just three weeks away.

If this was last year, we’d take Bill Belichick’s indecisiveness with a grain of salt.

After all, Cam Newton, despite being involved in a quarterback competition with Jarrett Stidham, was always going to come out on top.

This year, however, is a different story, as rookie Mac Jones is seemingly giving Newton a run for his money for the starting job.

The Patriots’ decision only got more complicated after their preseason opener, when Jones looked the more poised and precise quarterback.

In fact, if you asked ESPN analyst Domonique Foxworth, he’d tell you that Jones answered a burning question against Washington.

Domonique Foxworth thinks Patriots QB Mac Jones passed a huge test.

During a Monday appearance on “Highly Questionable,” Foxworth said Jones needed to prove he can do what other QBs in his rookie class already can: complete passes to receivers who are NFL, not college, open. What exactly does that mean?

"“NFL open is not actually open,” Foxworth explained. “NFL open is you throw the ball to a spot that your player can potentially make a play. College open is what you guys are accustomed to when you’re playing video games. Like, ‘Oh, he’s wide open.’ That’s what we get when you see those screenshots that are kind of misleading“He (Jones) showed that he can throw it to guys who are NFL open, so that was huge for me. That’s the only guy who I leave this weekend feeling entirely different about than I did before this weekend started.”"

It seems like the No. 15 overall pick answered the call.

As displayed by his lone season as the starter at Alabama, Jones can play with NFL talents, keep up with the speed of the game, and read defenses. While the rookie still has a long way to go before he can master those intangibles, the biggest question leading up to draft night was whether he could fit throws into tight windows.

After all, everything at ‘Bama looked so open it almost appeared rigged, considering the talent disparity at wideout that Jones was operating with.

Last year, Jones had the luxury of throwing to a pair of first-round WRs in DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, who found things almost too easy at the collegiate level.

A lot of Jones’ completions came after Smith and Waddle created ample separation from their defenders. Though it’s only one preseason game, Jones proved on Thursday that his skillset is more well-rounded than scouts gave him credit for.

For the game, Jones finished 13-of-19 for 87 yards. He should’ve had a touchdown, but Kristian Wilkerson dropped a perfectly-placed pass down the sidelines.

In sum, Jones passed a lot of tests in his first preseason action. If he continues this level of play, Belichick might have an impossible decision to make before the regular season opener against the Dolphins on Sept. 12.

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