If the New England Patriots didn’t have a quarterback controversy before Monday night’s game, they certainly do now — and coach Bill Belichick, predictably, made no attempt to douse it the morning after.
Rookie Bailey Zappe replaced Mac Jones after three series in the Patriots’ loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night. Jones guided New England to just 51 yards of net offense, but Belichick said after the game that Jones wasn’t removed for performance. However, he also said it wasn’t a medical decision.
Further, Belichick said Jones knew going in that he wasn’t going to play the whole game.
Belichick was asked Tuesday morning if Jones would be the starter moving forward, if healthy.
“That’s a hypothetical question,” Belichick said. “So let’s see where that is and what that is.”
Belichick was then asked if Jones was healthy enough to keep playing after 18 snaps against the Bears.
“Well, that didn’t happen,” Belichick said. “So that’s another hypothetical question.”
Zappe threw for 185 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in relief of Jones, playing the rest of the game.
While Jones said postgame he knew the plan was for both QBs to play, Zappe wasn’t as succinct.
“If that decision was made for me to go in, then I was gonna go out there and do the best for my team,” Zappe said Monday night.
Leading to the scrutiny of a pre-plan for a two-QB night was that Jones was pulled after throwing an interception. Jones threw for just 13 yards and rushed for another 24 in his three series.
“Part of the plan, I think coach Belichick did a really really good job explaining it to me, I knew what the plan was,” Jones said. “The timing’s the timing, but we’re on the same page and there’s no hard feelings. I wish I had played better while I was in there.”
The Patriots (3-4) visit the New York Jets (5-2) in Week 8.
–Field Level Media