New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick may start quarterback Mac Jones in Sunday’s game against the 3-8 New York Giants, even though backups Bailey Zappe and Will Grier haven’t necessarily impressed in practice.
“Jones appears to have vibrated on specific plays (his feet were in bad shape on the first and last throws in the first half against the Colts, as well as after a spine-breaking ankle throw late), as seen by staff. this,” NFL insider Albert Breer Sports Illustrated wrote an article published Tuesday afternoon. “The players lost trust in him because mistakes in training translate into matches. The best thing for everyone is that Jones gets a break.”
Media personality Colin Cowherd, MassLive Patriots reporter Mark Daniels and the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan are among those who have previously mentioned that at least some of Jones’ teammates have lost faith in the 25-year-old after a second straight disappointing season for the signal-caller. Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai later insisted that Jones “didn’t lose any of us on the team,” but Breer clearly isn’t buying what Tavai was trying to sell last week.
“So the question is whether Bill Belichick will be able to keep the team healthy if he makes a quarterback change,” Breer continued on Tuesday. “I think that’s why he would open the door this week and see if Zappe or Grier can come through.”
The numbers alone show why Belichick was able to adopt what Breer called an “everyone but Mac” mentality with the Giants. According to ESPN According to statistics, the 2-8 Patriots entered Week 12 of the NFL in 31st place with an average of 14.1 points per game. Meanwhile, Jones is here ranking He ranks 25th out of 31 qualified players with an adjusted QBR of 40.1 and has already been on the bench in three contests this season.
Behind Mike Reiss of ESPN Belichick suggested Tuesday morning that he might wait until Sunday to introduce his QB1 for the upcoming clash at MetLife Stadium. Given everything sources purportedly close to the Patriots have been saying about Jones in recent weeks, Belichick may decide that the 2021 first-round draft pick needs some mental reset as the club falls out of playoff contention.
