Mac Jones had flashes of fun in a productive rookie season with the New England Patriots in 2021. He helped the offense put up points and had fun doing so, headlined by his “griddy” celebration during the Pro Bowl.
That quickly flushed away over the next two seasons through his ineffective play and general disfunction across the team that kept the Patriots out of postseason contention. Jones and the Patriots parted ways last offseason when New England traded the 2021 first-rounder to his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jones showed enough in the preseason to win the backup job behind Trevor Lawrence. Jones earned his first start with Jacksonville on Sunday against a talented Minnesota Vikings team with Lawrence out due with an injury, potentially for the remainder of the season.
Jones produced the only scoring play of the first half for the Jaguars when he trudged into the end zone on a quarterback sneak for a touchdown. The quarterback took his full opportunity to celebrate when he spiked the ball and immediately ran to scream with energy toward the hometown crowd.
It’s hard to find instances of that energy from Jones from his New England tenure given his stoic energy in media environments and few chances to let loose on the field for a variety of reasons with the Patriots.
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Now, Jones is having fun and then some in his return as a starting quarterback.
