By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire
JACKSONVILLE – Did Mac Jones win the backup quarterback role in the Jaguars’ 20-7 win over the Buccaneers Saturday night?
There certainly is enough buzz about it.
Jaguars’ fans have been waiting for their native son to show how he became the Patriots’ No. 1 pick a few years ago and the heir to Tom Brady.
Jones doesn’t have to show it here, but he wants to show that he still is a viable player in the league.
Are the Jags grateful for Mac Jones? This will be one of GM Trent Ballke’s top offseason moves. Right now, all the signs point to Jones being a valuable part of this season.
Sure, it’s preseason, and fans may be hesitant to accept his second coming.
However, you have to give Jones the nod here. He is the imports among the new faces and potential stars the team wants to closely monitor this summer.
It’s all part of Baalke’s “mindset” that he wants to instill. It has been about building a veteran presence with a rising rookie class to make the Jags a physical team that can reach the next level.
Jones has embraced training camp with the exuberance of a rising high school star. He has been a leader, and the change of scenery has certainly boosted his confidence. Jones has accepted his role and knows the limitations with it.
That likely could have resulted in his showing against the Bucs. Jones did throw an early interception that was waved off with a pass interference call. He also was sacked twice and had a bad overthrow on a third down.
Being back home is the best scenario for him.
From there, though, he looked as sharp as he has in the past few years, tossing a touchdown pass among his 11 completions (18 attempts) for 144 yards. It gave him a 104.9 quarterback rating and a 61.1 completion percentage.
When you look at the whole picture Saturday night, you may think about Jones and his inconsistent days with the Patriots.
But that shouldn’t be the case.
Jones is here as Trevor Lawrence’s backup, and has begun to prove that he can step into the starting role with Lawrence injury.
C.J. Beathard did an adequate job replacing an injured Lawrence late in the season last year, but could Jones do better?
Jones can be the Jags’ solution to a strong backup that every team imperatively needs today. Over the past few years, we have seen plenty of examples.
Like Jones, Parker Washington and Tank Bigsby are part of the showcase that the team believes can also be valuable pieces of the puzzle this fall.
But this was Jones’ night to enjoy.
Jones likely discovered that he belongs.
