Patriots Super Bowl Champ Takes Surpring Shots at Mac Jones

The 2023 NFL season proved to be Mac Jones’ last with the New England Patriots. After a promising start to his pro career in 2021, things progressed in the wrong direction for the quarterback. By Week 18 last season, head coach Bill Belichick was reportedly no longer talking to Jones. He was a healthy inactive for the game, sitting behind starter Bailey Zappe and backup Nathan Rourke.

New England traded Mac Jones back to his hometown of Jacksonville after the season. The Jaguars parted with a sixth-round pick (the Patriots drafted Joe Milton III with the selection) in exchange for Trevor Lawrence‘s new backup. It was not a pleasant finish to a forgettable era for the Patriots, which once carried plenty of promise. But even though the quarterback is gone, he is not forgotten. One former Patriots player just made that clear, and not in the nicest of ways.

Rob Ninkovich’s time with the New England Patriots was very different than that of Mac Jones. Ninkovich was not QB drafted in Round 1, who became a Week 1 starter as a rookie.  He played eight games over his first three NFL seasons with the Saints (2006) and Dolphins (2007-2008). New Orleans and Miami each waived him twice.

Also Read – New England Patriots All-Time Staff and Roster of the Bill Belichick Era

Bill Belichick saw something he liked in Rob Ninkovich and was proven right. Ninkovich played eight seasons in New England, helping the Patriots win two Super Bowls (SB 49 and SB 51). He retired after the 2016 season. But it was not Ninkovich’s playing career that garnered media attention over the past few days. It is his recent comments about Mac Jones.

“The Dan and Ninko Show”

Ninkovich is now the co-host of “The Dan and Ninko Show” with Dan O’Brien. In an episode released last week, the pair discussed the New England Patriots quarterback situation in 2024. O’Brien believes Drake Maye should start immediately, while Rob Ninkovich believes going with Jacoby Brissett is the right move. Then the conversation turned to the quarterback no longer on the team.

“I don’t care. I’ll smack the sh-t out of f-cking Mac Jones,” Ninkovich said after O’Brien stated Jones didn’t like Ninkovich. “I hope he has a great career…as a backup.”

But they were not done discussing the Jaguars QB.

“The demeanor alone between Mac Jones and Drake Maye are completely different,” Ninkovich added. He then went into an impersonation of Jones in a mock interview, discussing how he needed to play better and how his childhood modeling career did not work out.

It is very possible Rob Ninkovich thought he was being harmlessly funny. O’Brien’s stating Jones did not like Ninkovich seemed to set off the mini-rant. In reality, Ninkovich said what many New England Patriots fans concluded by the end of Jones’ tenure in New England, if not sooner. People wanted a quarterback who displayed more toughness than what some perceived Mac Jones to possess. The same thing happened with Tony Eason 35 years ago in New England. Sometimes, perception matters as much as reality, and it’s not always fair. But now it’s time for all sides to move on. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, “Mac Jones isn’t walking through that door.”