Despite SEC snub, Mac Jones earning confidence of Alabama teammates

Alabama landed a conference-best 11 players on the SEC’s preseason coaches poll released Thursday afternoon. Mac Jones wasn’t one of them.

Opinions seem to be split on the redshirt junior quarterback heading into his first full year as a starter.

Statistically, Jones has proven his place among the conference’s elite — albeit only over a four-game span. The right-hander passed for 293 yards per start last season, a higher average than Florida’s Kyle Trask (277.5), Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond (222.84) and Auburn’s Bo Nix (195.58) — the three quarterbacks named ahead of him on the preseason All-SEC team. Jones also compiled a 186.84 passer rating, which would have ranked third in the nation had he recorded enough attempts. However, there still seems to be uncertainty as to whether he can keep up at that pace this year.

Jones struggled a bit early on in camp, completing 21 of 36 passes during Alabama’s first scrimmage, a performance Nick Saban described as “not quite what we’d want.” Since then, the starter appears to be working back to his late-season form. Jones has received praise from Saban in each of the past two weeks with the head coach stating he performed “very nicely” during Alabama’s scrimmage over the weekend.

“I think when Mac stays in himself and is concerned about doing what he’s supposed to do and executes and does the things that he’s coached to do, he’s very, very effective,” Saban said earlier this week. “When he stays focused on the play, doesn’t get upset about what happened on the play before, he’s very, very effective.”

Jones has a tendency to wear his emotions on his sleeves, a trait that has cost him at times earlier in his career. Saban’s biggest critique of the quarterback has been his inability to shake off mistakes on the field. Although that, too, seems to be improving as evidenced by his near comeback in the fourth quarter of the Iron Bowl after having two interceptions returned for touchdowns earlier in the game.

“He has shown an ability to do that much better this year,” Saban said. “I think it’s a sign of maturity and understanding what he has to do to play winning football at his position.”

Jones’ recent resurgence is coming at a good time for the redshirt junior as five-star freshman Bryce Young has been turning heads during practice. Thursday, offensive lineman Landon Dickerson spoke highly of all Alabama’s quarterbacks, stating they have shown added poise on the field.

"I think the biggest thing is no matter who is in at quarterback, they have to be able to control the situation,” Dickerson said. “Whether it is the game situation or the team, whoever is in at that point. And I feel very confident Mac does that every day in practice. "

While Jones might still have a ways to go toward winning over opposing SEC coaches, he seems to have already earned the respect of his fellow teammates. Earlier in camp, Alex Leatherwood described the quarterback as a “workhorse,” stating Jones has been “working his ass off” ever since the team arrived on campus. Thursday, defensive lineman D.J. Dale echoed those remarks, praising the quarterback for his ability to spur on the offense.

“He’s a great player, he’s a great leader,” Dale said. “You can see he lights a fire under that offense. Everything’s came together.”