New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been full of praise for quarterback Mac Jones as he gets set for his second season in the NFL.

Mac Jones arguably had the toughest job in all of sports when he was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2021, even though there was the 2020 season that saw Cam Newton serve as a stop gap, he was appointed as the man to carry on from the legendary Tom Brady as he moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after forging one of the all-time great careers in Foxborough. 

But it’s fair to say that he took what was given to him and made an excellent start to trying to fill Brady’s shoes in his debut year, taking the Patriots to the playoffs where they fell in the wild-card round to the Buffalo Bills, but having put up over 3,800 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season.

And based on what has gone on this offseason, it seems as if he is doing all that he can in order to make sure that the first season wasn’t a fluke and that he can get the Patriots back to where they have been for the majority of the 21st century, amongst the best the league has to offer.

Work not going unnoticed

One of the main storylines about the Patriots this offseason has been the work that Jones has put in to get into football shape, with pictures of his weight loss compared to his first season in the NFL generating quite the buzz around the league.

But it’s not just that work that has been leaving people impressed, and that’s something that Bill Belichick can testify to, as he gave him a glowing review as the teams returned to training camp, claiming that he has seen a ‘dramatic improvement’ in his skill set compared to last year: 

Saying a little bit too much perhaps

The risk with what Belichick is saying, is that he could well be setting Jones up for failure this season. By saying that he is starting off from a better point compared to last year, gives the indication that we should be expecting more from him right out of the gate. 

Whilst a great leap from year one to year two would be great to see, what if Jones still has to work some things out and this is still a progression year for him which sees him only slightly add to his numbers rather than far exceed them?

Hopefully it isn’t the case, but it might be something that Belichick might come to regret further down the line.