Calais Campbell Compains About Mac Jones' 'Disrespectful' Trash Talking, Less Than a Year After Trying to Rip Jones' Leg Off

Jerry Thornton7/26/2023 5:30 PM

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

Welcome to morning in America, Day 1 of Patriots Training Camp 2023. A time of renewal. Turned pages. Fresh starts. New beginnings. First and foremost by the man who suffered the most in 2022:

Mac Jones was, to the surprise of no one, among the first Patriots on the field for the first practice session of the new season. First, because he's got an unquestioned work ethic. Two, and more importantly, no one has more riding on the next several months. Not on this team, and perhaps not in the entire league. He either rediscovers the mojo that won him a BCS Bowl title in 2020 and a playoff berth as a rookie, or he may find himself condemned to wander the Earth in exile and disgrace. My money is most definitely on the former, not the latter. But it's hard to imagine a middle ground for him.

That said, there's one NFL veteran who sounds like he has no interest in putting Jones' Year 2 stepback season behind him. And it's the same defender who almost ended it in September:

Source - Calais Campbell will probably not join the Mac Jones fan club any time soon. Speaking to the media at Atlanta Falcons training camp this week, the veteran defensive lineman spoke about the art of trash talking.
He praised former NFL quarterback Philip Rivers as a good example of a player who knows how to talk trash. On the other end of the spectrum, he mentioned the New England Patriots’ third-year QB.
“Philip Rivers was a good trash talker, but he was never disrespectful,” Campbell said, as transcribed by Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “Mac Jones actually, he was kind of disrespectful. I’m like, ‘Hold on, man.’ [It was] just trash talk to the highest level. It was like, ‘You don’t trash talk me.’”

Disrespectful trash talking is it, Campbell? Jones was using hurtful words, was he? Well that is disconcerting. Especially when his mean talk was directed at a member of the Ravens, an organization that has long prided themselves on their politeness, etiquette and decorum:

So you can understand why a Baltimore player would drop his teaspoon and gasp at Jones' breach of basic good manners. Just not this Raven. The one who tried to break Jones' leg:

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

And in doing so, incurring the wrath of David Andrews:

Now granted, this may be a chicken-and-egg situation, where no one has specified who started it. Whether Campbell's hurt feelings caused him to try and end a quarterback's season or if Jones' impolite language came after the vicious and illegal attack. All we know for sure is that the Ravens moved on from him. He's on the Falcons non-football related injured reserve. The Patriots have once again put the future success of the franchise in this young QB's hands. And Jones is not intimidated by anyone. He will not back down to any veteran. Not even a 6-foot-8 defensive end with six Pro Bowls and a spot on the All Decade Team on his resume.

Given the fact that the last successful Patriots quarterback was also no stranger to running his mouth with slander, libel, words you never heard in the Bible, this is an encouraging sign. So keep doing you, McCorkle. The rest of the NFL might not appreciate it. But is it better to be feared or loved?