Rip the Band-Aid off and send Mac Jones to the bench

Second year Patriots’ quarterback Mac Jones has played poorly this season, and it’s time for the team to rip off the Band-Aid and send him to the bench.  He almost made another backbreaking mistake on Sunday, throwing what would have been a pick-six, but it ended up being negated by a roughing the passer penalty.

On the day, Mac Jones threw for 194 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and earned a disgusting rating of 79.9.  For the season, he has three touchdown passes, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 73.1.

The regression from year one to year two is obvious and unfortunate.  Bailey Zappe, the rookie out of Western Kentucky, has played significantly better than Mac Jones.  On the season, the Patriots’ offense has scored more points when Zappe is on the field.

Zappe has five touchdowns against three interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.9.  He’s also completed 70.7% of his passes, which is very high.  I am wondering at what point do the New England Patriots serious consider the situation here.  It’s clear that Mac Jones is not comfortable in this offense.  He’s played in enough games this year so show that.  His numbers are abysmal.

I’m also wondering how much more Bailey Zappe needs to put on tape as an NFL quarterback before the Patriots simply give him QB1 reps for a few weeks.  Sure, Zappe might eventually crash and burn, but there’s no way it can be as bad or worse than what Mac Jones has done.

Zappe is more mobile and the offense is more effective when he’s on the field.  Perhaps the coaching staff thinks that by playing Jones, some of the common rookie QB mistakes won’t be made, but Jones has made more of those than Zappe.

It’s time to rips this Band-Aid off.  Send Mac Jones to the bench and give the QB1 duties to Bailey Zappe for the rest of the 2022 season.