Patriots bench Jones for Zappe in loss to Giants: Where New England goes from here
The New England Patriots quarterback situation went from bad to worse after both starter Mac Jones and backup Bailey Zappe, who replaced Jones in the second half, threw interceptions in Sunday’s 10-7 loss to the New York Giants.
The Patriots opened the second half with Zappe after Jones threw two interceptions and the team failed to score in the first two quarters. Jones’ first interception came in the remaining seconds of the first quarter when New York’s Deonte Banks picked him off on the Giants’ 43-yard line.
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The Giants failed to capitalize on the first interception, but scored a touchdown late in the second quarter after linebacker Bobby Okereke picked off Jones’ short pass intended for Demario Douglas on third-and-4.
“Just bad quarterback play,” Jones said of the Patriots’ loss. “If the quarterback doesn’t play well, you’ve got no chance.”
New England opened the second half with a score on the ground from Rhamondre Stevenson. However, the game took an all-too-familiar turn when Zappe was picked off on a pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Giants responded with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead, which held up after Patriots kicker Chad Ryland missed a potential game-tying 35-yard field goal in the game’s final seconds.
Jones went 12-for-21 passing with 89 yards, no touchdowns and a 27.8 passer rating. Zappe had 54 yards, one interception and a 42.0 passer rating on 9-of-14 passing attempts.
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Patriots will keep slogging with Jones, Zappe
The Patriots don’t have a quarterback. Not one they can trust anyway. They’ve benched Jones four times in 11 games this season. And he wouldn’t be the starter if they had a backup capable of efficiently running the operation. Instead, Zappe has been as bad as Jones. The Patriots will probably have to go forward with Zappe if for no other reason than Jones is broken. He’s incapable at the moment of running an NFL offense and making smart choices. But Zappe doesn’t do much more than Jones does, so the Patriots are set to slog through their final six games with this duo.
Both Jones and Zappe are bad. But it’s also coach Bill Belichick’s fault that neither was fully prepared for this game. Even after insisting in 2001 with Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe that it didn’t make sense to have quarterbacks split snaps, Belichick split the reps this week between Jones and Zappe. The idea was a competition would bring out the best in one of them. Instead, it meant neither was fully prepared for this game.
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When asked about potentially being named the starter and getting all the practice reps, Zappe said, “That would be great. But that’s coach Belichick’s decision.”
Maybe both Jones and Zappe are so bad that even with a full week of prep, they would’ve struggled. But Belichick’s decisions made their lives more difficult. — Chad Graff, Patriots staff writer
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Backstory
Jones’ most recent benching came in Week 10 against the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, when he threw a late fourth-quarter interception on the 2-yard line. Zappe entered the game for Jones but threw a game-ending interception.
On Sunday, Belichick started Jones after remaining mum about his quarterback plans during the week. Belichick simply said players at each position needed to be ready for the game at MetLife Stadium.
Jones entered Sunday’s game with 2,031 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and Zappe had 104 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in three appearances.
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Game highlights
Giants win on the Patriots missed field goal. #NEvsNYG pic.twitter.com/7VY2vqmDBz
— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Rhamondre Stevenson ties it up!
📺: #NEvsNYG on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/cuSEBlS1g2
— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Bobby Okereke has the @Giants second INT of the half
📺: #NEvsNYG on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/5y1Ytmcgvr
— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Required reading
(Photo: Robert Deutsch / USA Today)
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