Mac Jones' troubling failures and Jordan Love's tremendous talent: Insider notes on Wednesday's Patriots-Packers joint practice 

While preseason games are underway, so are joint practices. Bucs receiver Russell Gage suffered a season-ending knee injury during a joint practice against the Jets on Wednesday. Meanwhile in Green Bay, on August 16, the Patriots and Packers went head to head, and the play at the quarterback position did not reflect what those on hand expected.

In what’s expected to be a crowded field in the AFC East, quarterback play will be critical. And if Wednesday was a sign of things to come, the Patriots should be concerned.

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Mac Jones struggles to assert himself in practice

Jones struggled most of the day, albeit against a very talented Packers secondary. He was tentative, too conservative and very slow making decisions and releasing the ball.

On several occasions, plays were blown dead because Jones still had the ball in his hands as he failed to deliver the pass. He really didn’t take many chances down field even though receivers were open.

The situation for Jordan Love could not be any different. He was accurate with his throws, delivering the ball on time and displaying tremendous arm strength. Love made few bad decisions, and compared to Jones, looked more like the grizzled veteran.

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Jordan Love showing signs of Packers' $22.5 million move paying off

A league insider at practice told me he expects Love to grow over the 2023 season with the young receivers on the roster and develop into a terrific quarterback for next year, the 2024 season.

Speaking of Love’s receivers, they were very impressive Wednesday.

Samori Toure, the third wideout Green Bay selected in the 2022 draft, looked really good. He ran excellent routes, separated from Patriots defensive backs and caught the ball well.

Praise was also heaped on Malik Heath, an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi that the Packers signed immediately after April’s draft. Heath showed enough speed to stretch the defense on the outside, caught the ball well and played tough football.

Coaches have been impressed with Heath’s blocking since the start of camp, and people believe he will be a natural replacement for Allen Lazard, the former undrafted free agent who left Green Bay for the Jets in the offseason.

Both tight ends drafted by the Packers in April were impressive. After missing most of the 2022 college season due to injury, Luke Musgrave looked athletic, showed a lot of speed on the field and caught the ball extremely well. Tucker Kraft, who was selected in the third round -- one frame after Musgrave -- also drew praise for his play.

Insiders at the practice tell me that the Packers will be something to deal with this season. They feel the team can win as many as 10 games and come away with the wide-open NFC North.