Jalen Hurts believes Mac Jones' 'very unique college career' will help him acclimate to NFL with Patriots

Jones knows what it's like to watch and learn from his time backing up Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama

Historically, Alabama isn't known for being a quarterback factory. That said, Nick Saban's program has recently produced a number of signal-callers that are set to either start right out of the gate in 2021 or possibly at some point throughout the year. The latest of that group is Mac Jones, who was taken by the New England Patriots with the No. 15 overall pick in the first round of this year's draft. For Jones, his experience was a bit different than most recruits as he had to sit back and watch for the bulk of his collegiate career. While you can argue that there is no better experience than actually playing, that period of watching and waiting is set to do Jones a world of good now that he's stepping into the NFL, according to one of his former Bama teammates. 

Jalen Hurts, who Jones played behind during their shared time in Tuscaloosa, believes that not only sitting behind him but also 2020 first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa were building blocks of a solid foundation that he can continue building upon now that he's in Foxborough. 

"Mac Jones, he had the opportunity -- I think the best way you can learn is to watch," the current Eagles quarterback told  Rick Karle of WVTM 13 Birmingham. "Watch, take note of those around you, kind of learn the lay of the land, if you will, and learn that way. Mac had a very unique college career where he had to stay patient, and it worked out for him. And I'm happy it did. He was able to watch me, (and) Tua go through that, get him some burn here and there, and ultimately when it was his time, he took off with it. And now he has a great opportunity for his future."

Once Jones got the opportunity to start a full season at Alabama, he didn't disappoint and that time to process and learn Saban's system seemingly helped. He led the NCAA with 4,500 yards passing and broke NCAA records with a 77.4 completions percentage and a 203.1 pass efficiency rating during the 2020 campaign. Jones also helped lead the Crimson Tide to a National Championship win over Ohio State where he threw for 464 yards and five touchdowns. 

Already, Jones is said to have impressed the Patriots throughout minicamp and the rest of the offseason program, so his pro career is off to a promising start. What remains to be seen, however, is whether or not Jones will be able to impress enough over the course of training camp to pry the Week 1 starting job away from 2020 starter Cam Newton. If he's unable to do so, his NFL career would start out similarly to how it did in college -- patiently waiting to get the nod.