Bill Belichick’s comments add more confusion to QB drama

As if the rumored quarterback controversy in New England couldn’t get more confusing, Bill Belichick’s decision to have Mac Jones start the game only to pull him after three series has spun the whole thing out of control.

Leading up to their week seven matchup with the Bears on Monday Night Football, Jones was said to be progressing toward likely returning from suffering an ankle sprain. Throughout the week, he was seen participating in practice and working the starting quarterback reps, leading many to believe he was good to go come Monday night. But when Belichick was questioned about who would be the one under center for the game, he provided little to no clarity, creating even more speculation.

Seeing the practice squad elevations not include quarterback Garrett Gilbert, it was assumed that Jones would be getting the start ahead of Bailey Zappe. And that is what happened, much to the enjoyment of the fans in attendance. But after a poor showing through three drives, Belichick seemingly benched his second-year quarterback for the rookie.

Zappe quickly led the team to score on his first two possessions, appearing to get the Patriots back in the game. But that, too, fizzled through the rest of the night as the team went on to be entirely dominated by the Bears losing 33-14.

With so much confusion surrounding the rotation of quarterbacks, the media had a lot of questions for Belichick post-game. But in typical Belichick fashion, his responses didn’t exactly put any skepticism to rest.

Once the coach took the podium, he was immediately hit with concerns regarding his decisions during the game. When discussing the rotation of quarterbacks, Belichick claimed the choice to have Jones start and switch Zappe in was the plan all along.

"“I told the quarterbacks that we were going to play both of them. And that’s what we did.”"

He said the decision initially was for Jones to get back in the game, but because the “score got out of hand,” the plan changed. He pointed out that Jones was not benched, at least not in how it appeared, claiming, “that’s not what it was, but you can write whatever you want to write.”

When pressed on if the choice to remove Jones from the game was due to concern for his ankle, Belichick denied it played any factor, although he previously stated it was. Despite his answers’ vagueness and confusion, Jones repeated what his coach said and appeared to be aware his night would be cut short.

"“I think Coach Belichick obviously did a really, really good job explaining it to me. I knew what the plan was, and the timing is the timing; but we were on the same page, and there’s no hard feelings or anything. I wish I played better while I was in there, but hopefully I’ll have a chance to do that in practice and kind of earn that back and then apply it in the game.”"

After throwing an interception on his third series, Jones’ night ended, going 3/6 for 13 yards and interception while totaling three carries for 24 yards. Zappe’s integration seemed to boost the offense immediately, finishing the second quarter with 5/6 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. But the initial fire he brought to the field burned out after halftime, completing only nine more passes for 76 yards and being unable to reach the end zone again.

The decision to carousel the quarterbacks backfired completely. The easing of Jones back on what should’ve been an easier opponent made sense, while continuing to allow Zappe to play after adding two games to the win column made sense too. However, history has proven that using quarterbacks interchangeably is rarely successful and can lead to more long-term damage to the team overall, including trust and morale.

As for who will be the quarterback in next week’s game at the New York Jets? Belichick declined to say. But he did declare the Patriots would not be continuing the quarterback alternation in the future.