Mike Lombardi: "Be Patient with Mac Jones" (no need to rush)

[Wozzy]

I don't dislike Lombardi because of homerism or whatever... I dislike him for the reason you cited in the second paragraph. He's a guy who insinuates he has insider information, or that he's brought into team discussions, when in fact he's just guessing about everything and milking his status with: I worked for Bill in the past, so I'm familiar with his line of thinking. This must be what he thinks!

Chatham and other cheerleaders can have their opinion; I don't have to agree with them on everything, but at least they're not posing as having direct knowledge of something when they don't.

A guy who regularly says BB is bad at his job dislikes Lombardi, a guy with genuine pro football credentials… funny stuff. And guys who regularly call BB the best (Jimmy Johnson, Cowher, McVay, Sean Payton) they’re wrong as well.

Lombardi’s pod is one of the best about football online, he’s not always right. I disagreed with him when he said Philly wasn’t the best team in the league early in 2017, he’s not always right, and will be the first to tell you so.

He disagrees with the negative nancy’s that BB is a bumbling stumbling fool who backed into the best record in NFL history… so obviously he’s a “BB honk.”

 

[goheels22002]

I'm only prepared to make one prediction about when Mac will play: on the third offensive series tonight, on 2nd down with no notice to simulate an injury situation.

You may very well be correct, but I think we see an entire half of Cam Newton tonight against the Eagles. The QB competition looks very real to me. Watching the non-Covid Cam in live actions with a playbook that includes a few QB rushing plays mixed in with the rest of the playbook will give the Patriots brain trust a clearer picture of which offense they want to run from the outset.

I also think we'll see an expanded playbook for Mac Jones with more authority at the line to read the defense and audible out of plays relayed by Josh.

One of the key things about starting a rookie is trusting how well they know the playbook and can run a two-minute drill. Watch for a couple of series of 100% hurry-up by both QBs tonite. The stories out of Miami about Tua not knowing the playbook completely and being replaced late by Fitzmagic to run the two-minute drill were quite eye-opening to me. Flores demands a lot from all his players to be crisp and perform in changing game situations.

Belichick is dealing with a rookie QB who may need a month or so to earn Bill's and Josh's trust at the line of scrimmage.

 

[patchick]

There you are. Thought you disappeared.

Yep, I did! I didn't watch a single football game last year. The whole situation with opt-outs, etc. made the season seem like a sham, and I decided to go cold turkey. But I missed it.

Patchick Jr. is home for the week and recently turned 21, so she and I can enjoy a game and a beer together tonight.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

A guy who regularly says BB is bad at his job dislikes Lombardi, a guy with genuine pro football credentials… funny stuff. And guys who regularly call BB the best (Jimmy Johnson, Cowher, McVay, Sean Payton) they’re wrong as well.

Lombardi’s pod is one of the best about football online, he’s not always right. I disagreed with him when he said Philly wasn’t the best team in the league early in 2017, he’s not always right, and will be the first to tell you so.

He disagrees with the negative nancy’s that BB is a bumbling stumbling fool who backed into the best record in NFL history… so obviously he’s a “BB honk.”

I didn’t think you’d be able to comprehend the difference between:

Lombardi as a football analyst
and
Lombardi as a fake source of insider Patriots knowledge

I was correct. You threw a hissy fit over absolutely nothing. Try actually reading this time.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Lombardi’s pod is one of the best about football online, he’s not always right. I disagreed with him when he said Philly wasn’t the best team in the league early in 2017, he’s not always right, and will be the first to tell you so.

By way, nice little plug for yourself Why does every point you make need to be part of a self-serving agenda?

 

[Ross12]

Yep, I did! I didn't watch a single football game last year. The whole situation with opt-outs, etc. made the season seem like a sham, and I decided to go cold turkey. But I missed it.

Patchick Jr. is home for the week and recently turned 21, so she and I can enjoy a game and a beer together tonight.

Good to see ya! Sounds like a good time. Hope it's a fun one to watch!

 

[Ring 6]

I'm only prepared to make one prediction about when Mac will play: on the third offensive series tonight, on 2nd down with no notice to simulate an injury situation.

I think Newton plays in second down with no notice because he will be the injury replacement.

 

[zydecochris]

This would not surprise me. You don't want a Tua situation on your hands, when the kid is put in before he's ready, and you need to bench him back for the vet.

I think this is Cam's team to start the year, and it will be Cam's team as long as they are in contention. The first half of the schedule is pretty light. The team should be over .500 by midseason if they win the games they're supposed to win. That keeps Cam at the helm for most of the year.

The only scenario outside of injury where I see Jones starting meaningful games earlly if disaster strikes and Cam stinks it up. Say we lose to Miami at home, New Orleans, Tampa, Dallas and LA. In this situation, I can see Belichick pulling the trigger while the pressure is low.

This. The Tua situation is exactly what you don't want, and it was really a weird decision by Flores, although there were several factors that aren't relevant to the NE situation.

First, in the Miami case you had a rookie QB who, while extremely talented, had suffered certainly one of the worst non-life threatening injury a football player can in his last college season, one that ended the careers of most players that suffered it in the past (the most notable being Bo Jackson). The fact that he could even play was a tribute to advances in medical science. Then, because of COVID, there was almost no time to get up to speed in the Spring like in a normal year, so Tua really didn't know the playbook as a rookie (as he admitted this year). Finally, the starter was playing pretty well. So, putting Tua in before he was ready and then benching him later just wasn't that great of a decision.

I fully recognize that Mac is NOT coming off a serious injury, he actually seems to know the playbook fairly well for a rookie (the bolded part is important though), and let's just say that if Cam plays as well as Fitzpatrick did last year I think we can all be thankful (but, it is not utterly impossible).

I agree that the most likely way that Mac starts is either injury or several sub-par games from Cam. I will be shocked if Mac starts the first game.

....Which probably means that is what will happen

 

[Ring 6]

"[Lombardi] preached the importance of patience when considering when to play a rookie signal-caller.

“If you’re Belichick, do you put Mac in to start the season?” Lombardi asked. “And then if Mac struggles and doesn’t look good, are you going to bench him? And then how will you get him back again? How do you renew his confidence? You’re better off being patient. You’re better off letting the crops in the field grow. You’re better off letting it have a little more time to sink its roots.”

How Ex-Patriots Exec Believes New England Should Handle Mac Jones

Should Mac Jones open the season as the Patriots' starting quarterback? Only if they're certain he's ready, Michael Lombardi said.

nesn.com

That’s such a losers mentality. Don’t play a guy because he could fail and you have to bench him.
So what. He learns more playing than sitting whether he plays well or not.
The future is now, abs the present and future success of the team are both elevated by Jones playing immediately.

 

[Rob0729]

I am not against sitting Jones to start the season or even sitting him for his rookie season if it is what is best for him and the team. That said, if he is not mentally tough enough to handle handling adversity this early in his career by starting right away and struggling, he isn't the QB of the future the Pats want.

Yes, you can argue bad teams have ruined a lot of first round draft pick QBs over the years when they started them day one. But I contend if these guys careers are totally derailed because they played for a bad team, they were likely never going to remotely live up to their draft position no matter if they sat out their rookie season or played for a better team.

You can argue that some of them established bad habits that they might not have developed if they sat and learned, but that is probably a damnation of the coaching rather than starting them so fast.

 

[amfootball]

I didn’t think you’d be able to comprehend the difference between:

Lombardi as a football analyst
and
Lombardi as a fake source of insider Patriots knowledge

I was correct. You threw a hissy fit over absolutely nothing. Try actually reading this time.

View attachment 34796

I am pretty sure Lombardi has described himself as a BB honk. LOL I mean he throws so many verbal bouquets at Bill it makes anything he says hard to believe it has any objectivity whatsoever. Also, he is as far from an insider as one can be despite his son working for Bill.

I do wonder what Bill thinks of him. I wonder if he is THAT friend that you have that you cringe every time they talk about you because they have no clue what they are talking about and their endless praise is embarrassing and does the exact opposite of what they are intending.

 

[Ring 6]

This would not surprise me. You don't want a Tua situation on your hands, when the kid is put in before he's ready, and you need to bench him back for the vet.

I think this is Cam's team to start the year, and it will be Cam's team as long as they are in contention. The first half of the schedule is pretty light. The team should be over .500 by midseason if they win the games they're supposed to win. That keeps Cam at the helm for most of the year.

The only scenario outside of injury where I see Jones starting meaningful games earlly if disaster strikes and Cam stinks it up. Say we lose to Miami at home, New Orleans, Tampa, Dallas and LA. In this situation, I can see Belichick pulling the trigger while the pressure is low.

Tua is far, far better off now than if he sat all year.
If Jones is the future you don’t worry about pressure. If he can’t handle the pressure of playing a week 1 game, then it’s time to find out and move on.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't dislike Lombardi because of homerism or whatever... I dislike him for the reason you cited in the second paragraph. He's a guy who insinuates he has insider information, or that he's brought into team discussions, when in fact he's just guessing about everything and milking his status with: I worked for Bill in the past, so I'm familiar with his line of thinking. This must be what he thinks!

Chatham and other cheerleaders can have their opinion; I don't have to agree with them on everything, but at least they're not posing as having direct knowledge of something when they don't.

Very good point.

 

[amfootball]

Tua is far, far better off now than if he sat all year.
If Jones is the future you don’t worry about pressure. If he can’t handle the pressure of playing a week 1 game, then it’s time to find out and move on.

Also, Mac seems like he have that tough/winner mentality already. I don't worry about him cracking at all if he struggles this year.

 

[Hyped]

I don't think it's necessarily a "Mac learns from Cam" thing as much as it is getting used to the rhythm of the NFL from week to week. It's the first time in your life you'll be in a regular NFL season schedule. Practice, film study, pre-game prep, the mental toughness throughout the ebbs and flows of a game. What do you expect to do on the sidelines as the starting QB, what are the coaches doing with you while the defense is on field? How do you wrap up a game and go home, the plane rides. It's really in my opinion, as a non-professional athlete but human who relies on a schedule and a pattern, getting used to all the little things before kickoff and after the final whistle more than it is "Can I learn what a cover 2 is by watching Cam Newton from the sideline on gameday?"

Yes and No...

At Bama, I am sure Saban runs on a near-Pro style schedule that is similar. Also, college kids need to go to classes/study/take tests... so one could argue that it is easier being a pro with $$ to hire professional help (e.g. personal chefs, cleaning ladies, business managers, agents, financial managers, and etc..) to make your sole focus football related only.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

At Bama…. college kids need to go to classes/study/take tests...

 

[Ring 6]

Also, Mac seems like he have that tough/winner mentality already. I don't worry about him cracking at all if he struggles this year.

He is going to struggle. Everyone does. That’s how you improve. He is an NFL QB not a 7 year old doing a dance recital.

 

[Vindicate]

It’s more about what does he learn watching Cam?
Their playing styles couldn’t be more different.
It already appears Jones Is ahead of Cam on the mental intricacies of this offense.
Cam can teach him to break a tackle run for a first down and be a loved leader.
Ok Mac is already known as a great leader and Mac will never be the QB to power thru a defender over a yard in any situation.

To be fair, being a leader in the NFL is wayyyyyyyy different than college. These are grown-ass men getting paid checks, who've been through the unforgiving industry of professional sports, some of whom worked with Brady. Cam is a dumb good leader. He has half this board proclaiming such whenever he's brought up, even if ppl hate his play. It's a really weird polarizing effect, as he is playing really bad, but seems to still draw respect regardless.

I'm not saying your wrong, just to say that - we don't know if Mac's leadership has translated to the NFL. And a great way to screw up any progression in that area is toss him in, wreck the confidence, give a bad first taste for fans and players on his play, and just expect him to overcome that. Hard to lead when you barely know what the next step is, let alone when you're in the hole after a bad debut outing.

If I were to play devil's advocate to my own position though, you could potentially fire back with "well who has even said the players respect Cam this year?"

And I dunno, you'd be right in that I have no idea if the team still likes him, or if it's just BB.

 

[amfootball]

He is going to struggle. Everyone does. That’s how you improve. He is an NFL QB not a 7 year old doing a dance recital.

Of course. I also believe QBs get better by playing. The rub here is how much does Mac know of the offense that he can run it effectively? That I think will be Bill's water mark for him to reach in order for him to play sooner rather than later.

 

[Patjew]

Yep, I did! I didn't watch a single football game last year. The whole situation with opt-outs, etc. made the season seem like a sham, and I decided to go cold turkey. But I missed it.

Patchick Jr. is home for the week and recently turned 21, so she and I can enjoy a game and a beer together tonight.

I am VERY happy to see you back!!