Patriots' Dont'a Hightower praises Mac Jones' ability to 'adapt' to NFL

New England Patriots rookie and first-round draft selection Mac Jones became a starting quarterback for the upcoming regular season when the Patriots parted ways with veteran and 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton on the final day of August. 

Jones impressed multiple teammates throughout the summer, particularly during a five-day stretch last month when Newton was absent because of a so-called "misunderstanding" of the NFL's COVID-19 policies. Per Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal, linebacker and fellow former Alabama Crimson Tide player Dont'a Hightower credited the rookie's time in college for why he was able to become QB1 before Week 1.

"He’s just being Mac. I don't think that he's asking for a lot," Hightower explained. "I think he's just kind of going about things the way that he knows how and just kind of happens to marry up to a lot of the ways that we've done it here. Obviously, with Bill (Belichick) (and Nick Saban) being close, they have some things kind of (run) teams in similar ways. And so he was able to adapt to things a lot easier than most rookies." 

Interestingly, Hightower's comments came less than a week after former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich claimed Jones helped Newton learn the playbook up through the end of August. 

As for Newton, he doesn't yet plan to retire and seemingly still believes he should be a starter in the NFL. It's clear at least one team wouldn't have him on the depth chart, at all, heading into its regular-season opener.