Mac Jones looks like a different player ever since leaving the New England Patriots.
And he continued to showcase that in a Jacksonville Jaguars uniform on Saturday night with another standout preseason performance. He might have secured the backup quarterback job with Jacksonville in the process, too.
Jones, who the Patriots traded to the Jaguars for a sixth-round pick in March, was the shining star in Jacksonville’s 20-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by completing 16-of-23 passes for 210 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“I thought overall Mac played a solid football game,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson told reporters, per The Florida Times-Union. He was obviously into it. You saw his intensity out there, made some great throws. Just led the team as expected.”
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Jones got the start against the Buccaneers with the Jaguars opting to sit franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence after two days of joint practices with Tampa Bay.
Jones made the most of his playing time with a few highlight-reel plays. The 2021 first-round pick followed up a blunder when he tripped to lead to a sack in the red zone by tossing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Parker Washington on third-and-17. Jones had perfect placement on the throw as Washington split the safeties in the middle of the field.
The night for Jones was supposed to be over after the first half with the Jaguars handing the offense over to C.J. Beathard to give him an opportunity in the positional battle. But Beathard left the game at the end of the third quarter with a groin injury and Jones came back in.
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Jones put more distance between him and Beathard for the backup quarterback spot when he tossed another touchdown, this time dropping in a 31-yard pass to Brevin Easton for the score.
One other play from Jones stood out on the night as the usual cement-footed signal-caller pulled off an impressive juke on 6-foot-4, 269-pound defensive end Lwal Uguak. Jones finished with six carries for 14 yards.
Patriots fans probably are wondering where this was from Jones during the last two seasons with New England when he struggled mightily and got benched multiple times.
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Jones has now completed 25-of-34 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns over two preseason games.
