How NFL insiders view the Patriots’ quarterback competition

The Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles on Sunday with a 6-2 win. J.D. Martinez belted a three-run home run to help power Boston’s offense.

Today, the Patriots join the Eagles for a pair of joint practices ahead of a preseason matchup in Philadelphia on Thursday.

The early takes on the Patriots’ quarterback competition: It’s still early, but the ongoing quarterback competition between Cam Newton and Mac Jones is close.

Following New England’s first preseason game — in which both quarterbacks had up and down performances — the early consensus from several national football reporters is that Jones, the Patriots’ 2021 first-round pick, is living up to his pre-draft billing.

“I think that’s the best thing you can say for the Patriots’ first-round pick—the operation looked clean,” noted Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer of Jones’s preseason debut. “He ran the no-huddle confidently at the start of the second half, the ball was out on time and there really wasn’t anything that looked too fast or big for him (which makes sense, given that he played in a program that basically mirrors the pros in a lot of ways).”

ESPN reporter Sal Paolantonio mentioned in a Monday morning interview on “Get Up!” that New England coaches were “very impressed” with Jones running the two-minute drill against Washington.

Criticism of Jones was reportedly down to his lack of accuracy on a few throws.

“Specifically,” Breer explained, “the negatives I gathered were that he aimed the ball a little too much after he first got in the game, and that there were a couple of shots downfield there for him that he didn’t take.”

“But overall,” Breer added, “he made the Patriots offense look like the Patriots offense we’ve seen run for the last 20 years.”

Additionally, per Breer, Patriots coaches showed confidence in Jones by letting him work out of several empty-backfield sets, in which the rookie completed four of five passes.

As for who will win the competition and be the Week 1 starter, Breer concluded that Jones is so far making the decision “a really tough one for Bill Belichick.”

“My money is on Cam Newton starting the season, and Mac Jones quickly getting up to speed and pushing Cam Newton for the starting job,” guessed Paolantonio.

Fellow NFL insider Peter King reiterated his belief that even if Newton wins the short term starting role, the job will eventually belong to Jones.

“Jones entered to a standing ovation Thursday night in Foxboro and made a nice throw up the right seam in traffic to rookie Kristian Wilkerson,” wrote King. “Seems like a matter of time before Jones wins this job.”

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