UK commit Jones talks about winning Rivals QB Challenge
Sunday was a good day for Kentucky quarterback commitment Mac Jones.
He was named the MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge finals in Baltimore, Md.
Jones had previously been honored at regional Rivals QB Challenge events in Orlando and Atlanta, but the Baltimore event pitted many of the nation's top quarterbacks from many different regions against one another.
Early Sunday afternoon Rivals.com's analysts honored Jones as the overall winner of the still-young but prestigious quarterback event.
Jones spoke with Cats Illustrated shortly after taking home that honor and preparing to return to Florida.
"I feel pretty good about it," Jones told Cats Illustrated. "In the previous quarterback competition (in Atlanta) I didn't do as good as I wanted. It was kind of cool to see the hard work pay off."
Jones cited continued practice and preparation as the biggest reasons for his improvement going into Baltimore. He's spoken to Cats Illustrated before about his penchant for perfectionism and his respect for coaches with the same demanding personality type, and that led to a lot of hard work before the competition in Maryland.
"Practicing helped a lot," he said. "And staying calm. That's really just a mental thing. I didn't really throw that well, to be honest. But the goal is to get the ball in the net. Obviously you want to see a perfect spiral but I just had a tough time adjusting to the balls for whatever reason."
The four-star quarterback started off the competition throwing deep passes and Jones connected on two out of those three throws. That started him strong with 10 points right off the bat.
Throws that missed the target altogether, besides landing outside of the nets, caused quarterbacks to lose two points from their overall scores. For the entire day Jones only missed the targets on three throws. That's a good indicator of the kind of accuracy the future Wildcat possesses.
So what makes Jones so effective in these combine settings?
"Probably being competitive," he responded. "I'll get mad at myself and then I'll start throwing good during the drills. I kind of got onto myself and picked it up."
There's a fine line between a healthy perfectionism that manifests itself in focus, work ethic and drive, and the inability to put the last bad throw behind you. That's something Jones has worked on as well.
Finding that short memory has been a work in progress, but part of the craft that Jones has improved on.
"I've had problems with that for a while but I've gotten a lot better. It's just about staying competitive. My dad always tells me, 'You've just got to move on' (after a bad throw). Whatever happens happens. You can't really change the outcomes. You just have to focus on the next play," he said.
Kentucky's coaches were following along with the Rivals Quarterback Challenge results because Jones found a number of messages congratulating him following his MVP award.
Jones may stand to improve yet again in the Rivals rankings on the heels of such a strong performance against a formidable field in Baltimore. But he's still only scratching the surface of his potential.
He believes that one of the things he's improved most on is the ability to adjust to different receivers in those camp settings.
"You go to these camps and you don't go with your receivers," he said. "Your timing has to be really good. You've got to be precise with everything you do. When you go to these things you've got to be 100-percent in everything you do. You can't miss a throw."
One of the areas of his game that Jones has worked on is throwing on the run. He feels good about that part of his game, but more so in a particular setting that these camps don't show off so easily.
"In games I feel like I'm good throwing on the run, just stretching the play and making something happen," he said. "It's kind of hard to show that when you go to the camps. I guess for me throwing on the run is more natural in the games."
During the Rivals camp circuit Jones has become very close with Clemson quarterback commitment Chase Brice, in much the same way that former highly-rated recruit and current UK quarterback Drew Barker formed a close bond with Clemson commit Deshaun Watson.
"Chase and I are really close," Jones said. "We roomed together and he's really relatable. We always joke about how we're like brothers."
On Monday practice begins at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. Jones is excited to get back to work with his teammates.
"I'm gonna focus on that," he said. "I'm really excited to get back to real football. I'm ready to get back into the flow."
Does he have any thoughts on where he should land in the rankings the next time they're revised?
"That's a tough question," he said with a laugh. "I'm happy with whatever I am. It's not something I really look into all that much. Four stars is a good accomplishment. It's their (the analysts') job to analyze me and figure that out. But I feel pretty comfortable with wherever I am."