- Cameras caught Jones being berated by his offensive coordinator during the loss
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would not confirm who would start the next game
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New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones appeared to question his coaches’ play-calling after their 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts – a game in which he was ultimately benched.
Jones was asked about the decision not to attempt a Hail Mary with just two seconds left of the first half in Germany. The Patriots trailed 7-3 at the time.
‘No idea. There’s two seconds left and we needed 60 yards, so… I don’t know,” Jones said when asked about the post-play call.
Last December, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick suggested that Jones did not have the arm strength to throw a 55-yard Hail Mary.
On Sunday, Jones was benched in the fourth quarter after a costly interception. Earlier in the game, cameras caught offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien yelling at the quarterback after another botched play.
Patriots quarterback Mac Jones appeared to question his coaches’ decision-making on Sunday
New England’s coaches opted not to attempt a Hail Mary near the end of the first half
Jones was eventually replaced by backup quarterback Bailey Zappe (4) after an interception.
Jones was eventually benched for backup quarterback Bailey Zappe.
“I felt like it was time for a change,” head coach Bill Belichick said in his post-game press conference.
‘At the end of the day I have to play better. To make people believe, you have to be better. I’m not sure. I don’t know,” Jones said when asked if he felt coach Belichick still has confidence in him as the starting quarterback.
Belichick simply insisted, “I have confidence in all of our players.”
The quarterback had another rough day as the Patriots were defeated 10-6 by the Colts
Cameras caught O’Brien berating Jones in the third quarter while reviewing a bad play
Jones was sacked five times in the first half, leading the Patriots to switch to a more rushing game in the third quarter, and he threw a costly red zone interception in the fourth quarter on a pass he called “terrible.”
Jones said “there were some things I was working on” on that throw and that he finished the game “a little bruised.” He had x-rays after the match but apparently avoided any serious problems.
Sophomore quarterback Zappe played in two other games this season before Sunday, but only in blowouts like the 38-3 loss to the Cowboys on Oct. 1 and a 34-0 loss to the Saints a week later.
When given an opportunity Sunday — albeit a difficult one — to win a game for the Patriots, Zappe completed 3 of 7 attempts for 25 yards and finished by throwing an interception to Rodney Thomas on a fake spike play to seal the match.
Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew said he had some sympathy for Zappe’s situation in the final two minutes of the game.
“That’s a tough place to go into on your own. 15, no timeouts, two minutes left. That’s hard,” he said.
Bill Belichick did not comment on whether Jones or Zappe would start the team’s next game
In Belichick’s first season with the Patriots in 2000, the team fell to 2-8 on November 12, but improved to 5-11 on the season.
Now New England must find a way to emerge from the bye week as an improved team.
“There is no separation” between New England’s offensive and defensive units, defensive lineman Deathrich Wise Jr. said. after a game in which the defense allowed 10 points and still lost.
The bye week is a time to “recharge, reset, just get away for a little while,” he said, “and by the end of it just refresh and come back ready to finish the next games strong.”