During Thursday night’s disappointing loss to the Chicago Bears, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was benched to make way for fourth-round rookie Bailey Zappe.
Zappe led the team to two straight victories in his first two NFL starts after Mac Jones suffered a high-ankle sprain. Last night was Jones’ first game back from this injury — and his time under center didn’t last long.
Jones went 3/6 and threw an interception before he was pulled for Zappe. The second-year QB was even booed off the field by the home crowd at Gillette Stadium.
Zappe played very well after taking over for Jones in the first half, but he completely crumbled in the second — throwing two interceptions of his own.
This decision from Bill Belichick opened a new quarterback controversy in New England. That being said, former Patriots running back James White believes the starting job should still belong to Jones.
“I think he’ll handle it fine,” White said during a podcast appearance with NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry, per NESN. “Like I said, nobody played very well last night. Everybody has to turn the page. I thought he handled it great last night. He was still there supporting Bailey when he’s playing. He’s the first one to congratulate (Zappe) after a touchdown. I think he handled it well, I think it’ll kind of ignite a little bit more fire underneath him. I think everybody in the building is gonna have a little bit more sense of urgency. Obviously, they’re playing a good football team. The Jets are rolling this year…
“To me, Mac is still the guy for the team. He’s the guy who you saw do it for 17, 18 weeks, whatever it was last year. He has the right mental process for it. He’s been through an entire NFL season, which can be very long, especially for a young quarterback. So, I think he’ll handle it very well.”
Who do you think should start against the Jets this coming weekend: Jones or Zappe?