The New England Patriots after benching Mac Jones for the third time this season suffer their eighth loss, putting them at a record of 2-8 for the first time since 2000.
New England losing this game 6-10, as this loss just hit even deeper, and made this Patriots team feel like they hit rock bottom. Jones went 15-20, for 120 yards, and one pick, not a single touchdown was on the board either in the air or on the ground for New England.
After Jones throw a late interception with around four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, it was at that moment that Bailey Zappe was seen warming up on the side line. Zappe was thrown into the ball game with under two minutes to go and no timeouts, Zappe then threw a pick to seal the game.
With each and every time Zappe was thrown into the game for the Patriots it was a lot of pressure thrown onto him, especially with this last drive with a chance to win the game. Zappe last season was 2-0 as a starter, this season did not start a single game, but now with the bye week approaching, there looks to be a trend towards Zappe taking over.
“No, we haven’t talked about that,” said Jones when asked about his starting position. “Really just, today we watched the game film and kind of talked about the plans for the bye week,. We have practice [Wednesday] so, just see how it goes there and the bye week is a great time to work on things that you can do better. So that’s what I’m going to do.” Jones in an interview provided by CBS sports,
There were many rumors around the league hinting to Zappe taking the starting role out of the bye week. There is also quarterback Will Grier who has the third string spot, the question this off week for New England will be who wins the starting role if Jones does not have it.
New England faces off against the New York Giants after the bye, New York also 2-8 and sit at the bottom of their NFC East division. New England facing a tough schedule to wrap up the season, but if the season ended today they would end up with a top three pick in the draft.
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams out of University of Southern California (USC) and Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington look to be top prospects in this years draft; New England will likely be in the conversation for these two.
With Jones rookie contract expiring in this coming off season, the New England Patriots look to make a restart at the quarterback position, even a restart at the head coaching spot. Head coach Bill Belichick has been rumored to be at the end of his time for New England and that would leave many gaps for this run down team.
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