Patriots HC Bill Belichick says that he has seen “dramatic improvement” in the 2021 first-round pick, Mac Jones, since the end of his rookie season.

The story said just about everyone on the Patriots has seen improvement in Jones this offseason. Still, we have Jones just 25th in our QB rankings, right behind Zack Wilson and just ahead of Jared Goff. If you're looking to take a chance on Jones, he'll certainly be available later in drafts.

The Patriots added quarterback Mac Jones to their practice report about 90 minutes after the release of their initial practice report. He was a full participant with a left thumb injury.

His thumb issue, obviously, isn't on his throwing hand so there probably isn't a whole lot here. As the story said, Jones threw three times the last time the Patriots were in action in Week 13 and then had a bye in Week 14 so it's not clear when this injury happened.

However the offense takes shape, Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, the team’s highest-paid and most established weapons, will be featured. They are the rock upon which Bill Belichick has rebuilt his offense. And offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels isn’t discouraged whatsoever by their lack of time together this summer.

Related players: Mac Jones

The story went on to say signing Henry and Smith was an organizational recommitment to reclaiming the middle of the field, where the Patriots have drawn battle lines for two decades. Belichick has preached winning between the numbers since his days coaching in Cleveland. If Henry and Smith succeed in the box and down the seam, Jones will thrive. Smith and Henry were banged up a lot during camp and missed valuable time, so it remains to be seen how quick the team can turn to this offense and have success. We have Smith ranked higher but, based on this story, it's possible Henry could turn into a sneaky pick and play this season.

The quarterback battle in New England has officially ended. According to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe, the Patriots have released veteran quarterback Cam Newton. This comes as all NFL teams are required to trim down their preseason rosters to the opening 53 men. With Newton gone, this now points to first-round rookie Mac Jones -- who competed with Newton this summer -- being named the starter to begin the 2021 regular season.

Related players: Brian Hoyer, Jarrett Stidham

It wasn't that long ago the Patriots said someone would have to pass Newton in camp to earn the starting job. But it was just over the weekend where the team changed their tune, saying decisions needed to be made about the starting QB job among other positions. We considered Newton a sneaky pick, figuring he had a little more upside than most first-round QB picks usually offer. Now Jones takes over. He looked impressive at times but will likely take some lumps this season as most rookies do. But he'll at least offer lower-end QB2 fantasy value and could enter the streaming conversation if the Patriots are more pass-heavy than expected. He doesn't offer much as a runner, though. Damien Harris gets a bump due to higher touchdown expectations but he hasn't had much of a role in the passing game. That's James White's role, and Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor have produced in camp as well. Jakobi Meyers may be able to produce fantasy WR3 numbers with Jones at quarterback, while Jonnu Smith seems to be best positioned to make a run at TE1 numbers.

"No. We still have a lot of decisions to make." - Bill Belichick when asked if he had made a decision on the starting QB yet.

Related players: Cam Newton, Mac Jones

It wasn't that long ago that Belichick said someone would have to pass Newton to win the starting job. We considered Newton a sneaky pick in fantasy drafts this year and we think he offers more of an upside. While this could be coach-speak, anything is possible in New England.

Cam Newton will miss time after a mix-up involving COVID testing.

Related players: Mac Jones

Newton left the New England area for a club-approved medical appointment but there was a misunderstanding about the COVID tests conducted away from NFL facilities, according to the statement. Newton can return on Thursday, after the mandatory five-day period. Jones will get extra snaps at a key point of camp, but the Patriots recently indicated no one has passed Newton for the starting QB job so far in camp.

“The fact that Cam Newton started last year, and he’s here, somebody would have to play better than him. Training camp is all about competition,” Belichick said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.

Related players: Mac Jones

The story wen on to say Belichick said Newton is “way more comfortable” than he was in his first year with New England and noted that the offseason has brought explosive players and better offensive balance to the team. It sounds like the Patriots are moving toward giving Newton a chance to play with those new arrivals to kick off the regular season, but nothing’s been set in stone in New England at this point, the story concluded.

N’Keal Harry injured his shoulder in the Patriots’ Thursday preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles after dropping an open deep ball from Mac Jones. Originally he was given a week-to-week timetable but now is expected to miss up to four weeks.

Competing with Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers for a role in the passing game, this timetable would potentially impact New England’s wide receiver depth chart heading into their week one matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

Overall, in terms of quality reps and performance, this was the first practice of camp when Cam Newton truly looked like the starter. Coach Bill Belichick, of course, recently noted Newton is the starter at the moment, and there’s no disputing that based off Newton leading off every competitive team period.

Related players: Mac Jones

The story added this was the first time Newton had a distinct advantage in reps with starting-caliber teammates around him on offense and defense. Newton was 5 of 7 in 11-on-11s against the starting defense, while Jones was 0 of 4 with an interception in 11-on-11s against the starters and 1 of 2 against the backups.

Cam Newton is expected to miss practice time due to the hand injury that he suffered yesterday, per source. Big opportunity for Mac Jones on the horizon. The Patriots have four OTAs next week then their minicamp June 14-16.

Rookie Mac Jones will have some time to show his capabilities early on in this summer program while Cam Newton rests. The veteran suffered a 'slight bone bruise' to his throwing hand during practice on Thursday afternoon. Newton is currently QB29 to Jones' QB35 in 4for4's rankings.