Sicilian
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The original discussion here fascinates me, not because Reiss is a brilliant football analyst (ha), but because he's usually quite diplomatic and even-keeled. He takes a slow, somewhat conservative approach to reporting, and rarely sensationalizes anything for clicks despite working for ESPN. I've always found him to be the most well-connected and plugged-in source on the Patriots, if a bit bland. Reading a statement like that from Reiss of all people should make us pause and wonder what he's hearing from the organization. Intriguing stuff -- let's hope it turns out to be true!
This is probably the best reason to be optimistic about it, to be honest. And it hasn't been just Reiss, it's been a lot of people pointing out how quickly he seems to be picking things up, how he and McDaniels see the game the same way, etc. Now, a lot of it could just be reporters (and people working for the team) being starved to see a return to quality QB play. The dropoff from Brady to Newton was STAGGERING last year, so perhaps they're overplaying the Jones accolades because they're falling prey to the same hopeful optimism we are. But on the other hand, it is fairly out of character for the team to intentionally leak overly positive reports, especially about rookies (whose heads they're probably trying to keep small). So, whether tainted by Newton or not, misguided or not, whatever excitement does come out of Foxboro about Jones would seem to be genuine.