New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is not known for spilling his emotions or telling the media everything he's thinking and the latest questions about the status of his starting quarterback got a typical "Hoodie" response on Tuesday.
Mac Jones is in his third year in the NFL, and while his rookie season showed some signs of hope for the future, it has been mostly downhill since then. The Patriots are 2–8, and Jones' future with the team has never looked bleaker.
Following a 10–6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany, where the Patriots offense couldn't get in the end zone once, Belichick didn't say much about the status of his quarterbacks going forward (but we took a look at what it could mean). At Tuesday's press conference, Belichick had an opportunity to give more insight into the team's QB situation.
He did not do that.
"We have a lot of things to work on this week as a team. We'll work through those. That is what we are going to do this week," Belichick said Tuesday, via the Boston Globe.
Backup quarterback Bailey Zappe came in on the final drive of Sunday's game, after Jones threw a pick on a pass to Mike Gesicki, who was open in the end zone.
Jones finished 15-for-20 with 170 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Zappe went 3-for-7, with 25 yards and one interception. So far this season, Jones has a 65.4 completion percentage with 2,031 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
"No. We haven't talked about that," Jones told WEEI Tuesday when asked if he's been told whether he'll start Week 12 vs. New York after their bye. "Really just, today we watched the game film and kinda talked about the plans for the bye week. We have practice tomorrow so ... Just see how it goes there and the bye weeks a great time to work on things that you can do better so, that's what I'm going to do. "
Earlier this year, Zappe came in for Jones, but Belichick would not call it a benching for bad play, simply saying that it didn't make sense for his QB1 to be out there at the end of a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
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As Jones has struggled, the conversation has also involved questioning whether Zappe could actually play a better game, if the team did put him in as the starter. He has not shown that she would create a drastic change in the offense, but what they have going with Jones is not working either.
Zappe's journey with the team has been a bit of a rollercoaster, after gaining fan support last season. He was waived by the Patriots in August during final roster cuts, signed with the practice squad a day later and was signed to the active roster less than a month later.
In his two years in the league, both with the Patriots, the former fourth-round pick has a 64.1 completion percentage, 885 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Patriots are on their bye this week, so if Belichick wants to give another QB more first-team reps, it would make sense to capitalize on this extra time.
New England brought in former third round pick Will Grier during the season off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. They have yet to use him in a game. He last played in 2019 with the Carolina Panthers.
Patriots fans are understandably frustrated and the overarching feeling in New England is that something has to change in order to win games. Owner Robert Kraft has broken his silence on the historically rough start, saying (via NFL GameDay Kickoff), "It's really disappointing, and I had hoped that things would be a lot better as I know our fan base did."
After their bye, the Patriots will head to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants on Nov. 26. The Giants are currently 2-8, so the Patriots should be able to make this a competitive game and if they are unable to, more calls for benchings and firings throughout the team will likely sound.
