Rob Ninkovich won’t be sending a Christmas card to Mac Jones. A key defensive cog who won two Super Bowls with New England, Ninkovich was happy to see the Patriots bid farewell to Jones and commit to a future centered on Drake Maye. And if Jones doesn’t care for Ninkovich, the feeling is most assuredly mutual.
“I don’t give a (bleep),” said Ninkovich last month on the Dan & Ninko Show. “I’ll smack the (bleep) out of (bleep) Mac Jones. I don’t care. Do you care if somebody doesn’t like you?
In the eyes of Ninkovich, Jones isn’t much better than the used televisions reportedly being sold by the Patriots’ Week 1 opponent on Sunday, Cincinnati (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
“I hope he has a great career as a backup and makes a ton of money.”
New England acquired a sixth-round choice in the 2024 draft when the Patriots sent Jones to Jacksonville on March 13. The Jaguars will open the season with Jones as the backup to Trevor Lawrence.
And that’s fine with Ninkovich, who sees Maye as a better fit for what Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo are building in New England. Ninkovich noticed a key difference in the demeanor of the two quarterbacks, especially in the way they addressed the media and fans.
“I couldn’t listen to, ‘Yeah, you know, I’ve just got to keep working and got to get better and um, you know, I’m just going to keep working hard, and we’re just … everybody together and um, yeah, it wasn’t my best and I’ve got to be better.’ Over and over and over and over again,” Ninkovich said, per Conor Ryan of Boston.com.
“I’d rather listen to Drake Maye talk than, ‘Yeah, my modeling career didn’t work out, so, um, now I’m back down here in Jacksonville.’”
Mayo will start Jacoby Brissett to begin the season at Cincinnati but Maye outplayed the veteran, according to their head coach, and could be in the mix sooner rather than later.