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The New England Patriots are on life support after dropping to 1-5. Fans shouldn’t expect a quarterback change this week.
During Tuesday’s press conference, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said he anticipates Mac Jones starting Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
Few QB notes from Bill O’Brien:
On Mac Jones: expects him to start Sunday.
On Malik Cunningham’s role: “That’ll be week to week.”
On Bailey Zappe: “Haven’t lost confidence” in him. pic.twitter.com/MRWvGIjIea
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) October 17, 2023
Jones’ woes continued during a 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. He went 24-of-33 for 200 yards while going his third straight game without a touchdown.
The first-round pick also threw his seventh interception of the season when overthrowing a wide-open Hunter Henry. Even the typically positive Tony Romo called it a “horrendous throw.”
“This is just a horrendous throw by Mac Jones.”- Tony Romo 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/QFG3CvXWaH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 15, 2023
Jones ranks 30th in quarterback rating (74.4) and yards per attempt (6.0) through six shaky games. He’s thrown just two touchdowns in the last five contests.
The Patriots made a chance to their quarterback depth chart in Week 6, but not the one some fans wanted.
Bailey Zappe had played off the bench in the previous two games. However, Malik Caunningham leapfrogged him as New England’s second-string quarterback.
The undrafted rookie played six snaps without a throw in his NFL debut. Per NESN’s Dakota Randall, O’Brien described Cunningham’s role as “week to week” and insisted the Patriots “haven’t lost confidence” in Zappe.
While Jones may be running out of his chances, he appears on track to get one more opportunity to turn the corner when New England hosts the Bills. The AFC East matchup takes place this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.