Getty Bill Belichick has made final call on quarterback according to the Boston Herald.
After two weeks of mystery, the New England Patriots have named a starting quarterback for a Week 12 game with the New York Giants.
The Patriots are “planning” to start Mac Jones according to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald on Saturday, November 25. Jones had been benched three times this season, which stoked speculation of Bailey Zappe as next in line to start against the Giants.
While Jones and Zappe split the first-team reps in practice on Tuesday, November 21, according to NESN, Malik Cunningham and Will Grier entered the quarterback conversation. Cunningham hasn’t taken a quarterback rep in practice since October, and the Patriots public narrowed things down on Saturday with Grier’s release.
Other than Jones’ confident comments on Wednesday, November 22, the Patriots kept the quarterback plans overly hush. Head coach Bill Belichick emphasized that everyone on the team needs to “be ready to go” against the Giants. Zappe said he didn’t know who the starter will be.
Bailey Zappe Hasn’t Shined on the Field This Year
Zappe hasn’t matched his electric rookie season appearances from 2022 this season. He has a 40% completion rate for 104 yards and an interception — a far cry from completing 70.7% of his passes for 781 yards and five touchdowns last year.
“I mean, who knows? Whenever I get the opportunity, those opportunities, I’ve got to go in there and do my job,” Zappe told reporters on Friday, November 24. “Haven’t done that to the best of my ability so when the next opportunity comes, whenever it is — this week, next week, whenever — I’ll make sure I take advantage of that opportunity and just try to go out there to help the team win.”
Zappe’s slide noticeably started in the preseason with subpar performances. The Patriots waived Zappe during the final roster cutdowns in August, but the team claimed him off of waivers.
Mac Jones Looks to Lead Patriots to First Win in Over a Month
As for Jones, he will look to right the ship amid a 2-8 start for the team. His numbers have only dipped this season from a sophomore slump in 2022.
Jones completes 65.4% of his passes for 2,031 yards and 10 touchdowns versus 10 interceptions. All of those numbers, except for a slight uptick in completion percentage, are worse than 2022.
Despite Jones’ struggles he expressed confidence in starting during his Wednesday press conference and said “that’s the plan, I think“. Jones hasn’t led the Patriots to a win since October 22 against the Buffalo Bills.
“I always work really hard for that,” Jones said about starting. “Really put a lot of attention to detail into the week like I talked about. A lot of that decision making is things I can’t control, but I can control my attitude and my effort like I talked about.”
“I’m really thankful overall just to be in the NFL and to be playing quarterback on Thanksgiving, right? It’s a great week to be grateful for a lot of things. To play this game, the game we love, together, I think that means a lot to me regardless of the situation,” Jones added.