Mac Jones played fantastically for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the pre-season, as his head coach Doug Pederson acknowledged after the team defeated the Atlanta Falcons 31-0 in the final pre-season game on Friday night.

Pederson also couldn’t resist taking a dig at Jones’ former team, the New England Patriots, who traded the 2021 first-round draft pick to the Jaguars in March.

“Mac has played exceptionally well the last few weeks and is really interested in what we do,” Pederson told reporters after Friday’s win.

“He’s still going to regress to his Patriot ways at times and we have to remind him that he’s in Jacksonville, but he’s done a good job. He’s done a good job managing the offense and leading it, getting everybody involved. He sees the field well, throws a good ball, so he’s done a good job.”

While the comments were meant in jest, it’s still a little odd that Pederson would ridicule the Patriots when his own franchise has a lackluster track record when it comes to drafting and developing quarterbacks.

Regardless, there’s no doubt that Jones, at least so far, has made the most of his opportunities in Jacksonville.

Jones completed 38 of 52 pass attempts for 421 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in three exhibition games.

Trevor Lawrence is the undisputed starter for the Jaguars, but Jones has been impressive in August. If he gets a chance to play this season, there’s reason to believe it will look better than his disastrous performance for the Patriots last season.