Getty The Patriots and coach Bill Belichick cut ties with quarterback Will Grier (left).
Of all the ways that the New England Patriots drama at quarterback might have played out after a bye week that followed a disastrous showing in Germany in a Week 10 10-6 loss to the lowly Colts, waiving the one guy who has not shown that he is overmatched did not seem to be the most likely outcome. Yet, here are Bill Belichick and the Patriots waiving third-stringer Will Grier, who at least had some claim to quarterback competence because he had not played.
Patriots starter Mac Jones (80.2 rating) and backup Bailey Zappe (36.1 rating) however, have been on the field enough to show that perhaps they should not be on the field anymore. Yet, Belichick will be left to pick between those two now, barring some out-of-the-box thinking on Malik Cunningham.
Adam Schefter of ESPN broke the news on Grier, writing on Twitter/X, “Patriots’ QB news: New England waived quarterback Will Grier, per source.”
And at The Athletic, NFL insider Jeff Howe says the Patriots are aiming to keep the suspension going until Sunday morning before the Patriots play the Giants in game with significant draft-pick implications.
Wrote Howe: “The Patriots’ decision to name a starting QB could happen as late as tomorrow morning before their game against the Giants, per sources. Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe split the starting reps this week in practice and had relatively comparable performances.”
The Patriots’ decision to name a starting QB could happen as late as tomorrow morning before their game against the Giants, per sources. Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe split the starting reps this week in practice and had relatively comparable performances.
Will Grier Has Not Gotten a Chance to Start Since 2019
While the decision on whom to start is a cliffhanger for Zappe and Jones, it is truly a bummer for Will Grier, who has to be wondering what he needs to do to get a legitimate NFL chance if he can’t beat out the two ahead of him on the Patriots depth chart.
Grier was a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2019, and started the final two games for Carolina that season. Those games did not go well. Grier completed 53.8% of his passes for 228 yards but recorded no touchdowns and was intercepted four times. He also was sacked six times.
In fairness to Grier, Cam Newton got hurt that year and the Panthers were terrible, closing the year on a seven-game losing streak. It did appear that Grier was on his way to a new, more solid role as the backup to Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush in Dallas, as he spent the entire offseason and training camp with Dallas.
He shined in the preseason finale for Dallas, hurling for 305 yards and an 82.8 completion percentage. He had two touchdowns in the game, too, a game he played knowing that the team had made a deal for former No. 3 pick Trey Lance, and that he would be waived when the game was over.
Prescott also called plays in that game, and was overflowing with praise for Grier.
“Honestly right now, my heart and my mind is with Will Grier,” Prescott said, per ESPN. “So it’s a tough situation, honestly. Love that guy to death over there. Plays his ass off, comes in, prepares the right way each and every day.”
Grier had signed with the Bengals practice squad before the patriots signed him to the 53-man roster.
Patriots’ Mac Jones Appeared to Lose Starting Job in Week 10
It is something of a mystery as to why the Patriots opted not to give Will Grier at least a look in the starting job. Mac Jones appeared to have lost his opportunity with the Patriots completely after his shaky season turned catastrophic with his 15-for-20, 170-yard showing against the Colts that included an interception and some poorly thrown balls.
Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was seen screaming at Jones on the sideline. When Jones was replaced by Zappe for the final drive of the game, it looked like the Patriots had settled on a change. But with 36 seconds to play, Zappe threw an unwise interception into triple coverage off a fake spike. That closed out the humbling loss.
Bill O’Brien on the viral clip of him and Mac Jones on the sideline:
“That’s kind of the way I coach. Sometimes, the way to get the point across is to be very demanding and very intense about it. that’s how I coach, that’s how I am.”
Belichick had said he told all Patriots quarterbacks to “be ready” on Sunday. He waited until the weekend, though, to tell Grier that did not include him.