Patriots
“I’m in a go well with catching footballs from Mac Jones. Like, what’s going on proper now?”
Following a disappointing 2022 season, there are a lot of questions surrounding Mac Jones and his potential as a top-tier quarterback within the NFL.
However the former Alabama QB’s work ethic and dedication to his craft have hardly ever been questioned throughout his enjoying profession.
Even amid the dysfunction current on the Patriots’ teaching employees final season, Jones has reportedly been one in all a “handful” of gamers who’ve been regulars on the workforce’s amenities this offseason.
Again in 2021, Alabama coach Nick Saban mentioned that Jones’ soccer IQ and prep work made him an ideal match for a workforce led by Invoice Belichick. Former Patriots defensive captain Devin McCourty has repeatedly given Jones his seal of approval in 2023 and past.
And earlier this week, Jones’ former teammate at Alabama — vast receiver Mac Hereford — provided one other anecdote detailing the sign caller’s obsessive deal with soccer.
Throughout an look on The Aspect Hustle Podcast, Hereford detailed an impromptu throwing session with Jones again in 2019.
Late-night reps at Alabama’s Mal M. Moore Coaching Facility isn’t essentially an outlier for the numerous future NFL stars who discovered underneath Saban in Tuscaloosa.
However Jones and Hereford’s reps got here shortly after the Crimson Tide returned from a soccer banquet. As anticipated, formal apparel was required for the occasion, that means that Hereford was ill-prepared for the prolonged on-field exercise that Jones was able to roll out.
“Mac’s like, ‘Hereford, you wanna catch a pair?’” Hereford recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, however I’m not gonna get out of my go well with. I’m gonna keep in my go well with.’ So I’m in my go well with from the banquet, Mac goes and modifications — he will get in his stuff. He comes out on the sphere and it begins off like we’re simply tossing. I’m like, ‘Alright, I assume I’ll take off the jacket. Getting slightly bit sizzling in right here.’ I’m in a button-down and a few slacks out right here within the Mal M. Moore observe facility.
“We maintain throwing after which he’s like, ‘Hey, do you thoughts jogging this route?’ So then I’m jogging this little slant route, catching the ball. I like catching, I’m a area rat, so I like these items. However, I’m barefoot. I didn’t convey my cleats, so now I’ve gotten out of my church footwear. I’m barefoot in Mal M. Moore facility, it’s like 10:30 at evening and we simply acquired again from this factor, and nobody else is right here. I’m in a go well with catching footballs from Mac Jones. Like, what’s going on proper now?’”
Certain sufficient, Jones didn’t sluggish issues down as his throwing session with Hereford continued.
“We maintain doing it till it actually will get all the way down to, I’m like ruining this collared shirt. Take off this — so I’m simply in my go well with pants,” Hereford mentioned. “And I’m like, ‘I don’t need to rip my go well with pants.’ I get all the way down to compression shorts and nothing else, operating routes in Mal M. Moore Facility, catching balls from Mac Jones. I’m like ‘What’s going on?’ I beloved it. I’m fairly positive somebody walked in and questioned what the hell is occurring right here?”
It doesn’t look like Jones’ work ethic has waned since making the soar as much as the NFL. And with Invoice O’Brien now handed the keys to the Patriots offense, it may sign promising returns in 2023 for a quarterback who appears to by no means flip down extra reps out on the gridiron.
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Originally posted 2023-05-09 16:09:41.